


Aruenaristy

by Aria_Alanna



Series: Aruenaristy [1]
Category: Shall We Date?: Wizardess Heart+
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Drama, F/M, Oral Sex, Sex, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-06-28 01:05:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 29,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19801522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aria_Alanna/pseuds/Aria_Alanna
Summary: Willem is the heir prince of Twilight Kingdom. He was riding in a forest that belonged to the kingdom when he bumped into a small and abandoned village. He found out a girl who happened to live there. Against her will, the prince takes her to the palace, where he appoints her as his personal servant. At first, she’s reluctant to attend the prince, but the prince will soon show that he’s not like many noblemen. Life in the castle will soon get complicated in more than one way.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Although I described this as an Explicit Content, this is not shown very much at the beginning, but I hope you enjoy it. Leave kudos if you like it, please!

  
  
The sun had begun to feel less scorching, which indicated that it was past the midday. He calculated that he's still got a few hours before it started to set behind the valley mountains. He supposed he would need to make the horse stop and find a river or a lake where he could make him rest and drink water before returning home. After all, his poor horse had been riding and galloping all day.  
  
He had practically fled the castle he called home. His uncle had come over again to his chambers saying that he needed to attend a few meetings as part of his training as future king. He had reminded him — as he needed a reminder — that he was the heir to the throne and, therefore, had to learn how to rule the kingdom. Though he wasn’t entirely against becoming the future king of Twilight, still he felt he had still way to go before, heaven’s forbid, his father passed away…  
  
So he took out of his hiding the clothes he wore every time he wanted to sneak out, which were, as his brothers called them, their wretched clothes, because many of them had holes, but because he rarely washed them, so the servants not only didn’t recognized him in them, but it also gave a more “authentic” figure to his “low-born” disguise. He hated the word, but that’s how his brothers called him the few times they had caught him with those clothes on. The clothes included a cloak with a hood so everything except his hands or face wasn’t visible for others. He also took a few apples and bread that had been placed in his silver plate, just in case he got hungry.  
  
He kept riding until he arrived to what appeared was a ghost town. It seemed that, somehow, the little town had caught a massive fire and all was left were few burnt debris and unsteady shacks. He passed the town and then, just when he was thinking of going down a different path, he spotted the unmistakable sight of the light reflecting on water.  
  
A spring! How lucky he was to have found water so soon. But then again, he should have imagined it since the history of his people had shown that they preferred to build their towns and cities near water sources. The capital city of Twilight Kingdom had many wells and previous kings and queens had made sure that there were fountains in practically every corner of the city. As soon as he was a few steps from the water, he got down from his horse and led him to the lake. While the horse was drinking water, he unloaded his bag of food supplies. Then, he spotted a young girl not too far away and got closer to her.  
  
The girl was kneeled very close to the edge and seemed to be collecting water in a jar. Inside, beautiful white Aurenaristies had been placed. Despite her hands being a little mangled due to some cutting, he still could see that her white skin was very delicate. Her brunette hair was loosen and quite long and it was falling over her face, so it came to no surprise that she hadn’t seen him walking towards him.  
  
“Excuse me, Miss?” he said when he got too close to her.  
  
She startled and got up immediately quite frightened. The hooded man had approached so quietly as well that, in her opinion, it was no wonder she had not heard him.  
  
“I’m sorry,” he apologized placing his hands at shoulder’s height and with his palms for her to see that he wasn’t holding any weapons and, in the act, he dropped his bag. “I accidentally arrived here and I was just wondering where I am. I’m sorry if I scared you.”  
  
He could see that she quickly inspected him and then her lips formed a smile. The prince stood there mesmerized by the kindness those almond eyes and her smile exteriorized.  
  
“There’s no need to apologize, sir,” she said. “I was in fault first for not noticing you,” she said bowing a little her head as a sign of respect.  
  
Then she reached to help him with the bag.  
  
“No need, Miss,” he said grabbing his bag.  
  
Due to the impact, the bag had opened a little, letting know its contents. The stomach of the girl growled. A pink flush could be seen in her cheeks when he chuckled at this.  
  
“Would you like to share these with me?”  
“I…”  
  
The prince could see that she wanted to, but probably her manners wouldn’t allow her to share a meal with a man, especially a stranger.  
  
“Look, I’ve brought with me more than I could eat by myself. So you would be a great help if you ate them with me. Otherwise, they will spoil and I’ll have to throw them away.” He could see her eyes going bigger at the idea of throwing food away. “We could have a little picnic if you’d like to,” he commented to try to seal the deal.  
“All right,” she smiled because she had sensed he had said all those things so he could have a little company.  
  
He had gotten with him a sheet. He always traveled prepared in case he would be so mad at his father or uncle that he wouldn’t want to come home for the night. There had been only two nights where he had been forced to sleep outside, in the forest. After the first night, he decided to take the blanket with him, just in case.  
  
He unloaded the blanket and brought the horse close to them. Once he unfolded the blanket and had ceremoniously put it on the ground he had sat on it and invited her to do so as well.  
  
“My name is Willem, by the way,” he said.  
“Mine is Liz,” she said while sitting and passing him the bag of food.  
“Nice to meet you. I’m glad you can join me for lunch,” he gestured the bag.  
  
The prince laid all the contents on the blanket just between them. She grabbed a white apple.  
  
“It’s been a while since I ate a snow apple,” she commented.  
“Go ahead, we’ve got at least six to eat,” he said grabbing a piece of ham he had brought with him.  
  
They spend the next half hour eating. The prince had chuckled at the sight of her devouring more than half of what he had brought. He had let her because, inspecting her closely, she looked like faming. He had tried to make her eat more, but she had insisted for him to eat as well.  
  
“So, you were a naughty child,” he said laughing after she told him one of her anecdotes when she was a baby. “Who would have thought it?”  
“I still insist that no one can blame me for the mark on the wall if no one actually saw me doing it,” she said pretending to be outraged.  
“I think your parents disagreed with you,” he commented.  
“They did and grounded me for it,” she said.  
“I would love to meet them,” he mentioned. “I bet I could be your defense attorney in your case,” he laughed.  
“I bet they would have loved to meet you,” she remarked.  
  
For the first time, he saw sadness on her eyes and face. The smile had gone and she looked miserable.  
  
“Would have?” he observed, “What do you mean?”  
“They… passed away…” she mumbled.  
“I’m really sorry,” he mentioned. “I lost my mother too when I was young.”  
“I’m sorry,” she said wiping a tear from one of her cheeks. “I try not to think too much of it, but it still hurts.”  
“I know, but I can assure you that it gets better,” he said with a sympathetic smile.  
  
He reached out and with one of his fingers he wiped another tear that was rolling down her other cheek.  
  
“At least, it gets bearable,” he mentioned.  
“Thank you,” she said smiling again.  
  
There it was. That beautiful smile. Despite the tears leaking from her eyes, he could see she was smiling from the bottom of her heart. His kindness was helping her and that felt good. He suddenly had the urge to see that smile on her face forever.  
  
“So… are you a law man?” she asked to change the topic.  
“Huh?”  
“You said you could be my defense attorney,” she said. “I might be just a country girl, but I still know about the duties of certain professions.”  
“Well… in a matter of speaking… I’m still a law student,” he said.  
“That’s incredible! So are you heading to some school or library nearby?”  
“Well… Not really. I was just… trying to clear my mind until I…” he couldn’t finish. His pride made him not to admit that he had no idea where he was.  
“…Got lost?” finished her for him.  
“I never said that,” he observed.  
  
She chuckled.  
  
“Well, this is called the Spring of Unicorns and the closest village would be Woowick, a few miles from here. If you ride now, you should be there in two hours. Just in time for supper.”  
“Two hours?”  
“I’m afraid so,” she said apologetically.  
“So you have to travel for more than two hours to come here for water or something?”  
“Ummm…”  
  
She stared at the ground. She felt uncomfortable telling this to a stranger, but his curious face and the little smile lingering in his lips, made her trust him despite her better judgement.  
  
“Actually, I live quite near the spring,” she confessed.  
“Where?” he inquired a little puzzled.  
“I…”  
  
At that moment, the sound of horse hooves was heard and they were getting closer. They stood up at once when they saw knights approaching them. They circled around them and, when they stopped, Liz and Willem could see that they were a dozen of male and female knights.  
  
“Prince Willem,” said the man with a grey horse. He was a handsome, tall, muscular man. His hair was gray and had violet eyes.  
“Lieutenant Qing,” greeted Willem. “What are you doing here?”  
“We came looking for you, Your Highness. Your uncle is quite worried about you.”  
“Well, you can tell my uncle not to worry and I’ll come back when I feel…”  
“You can’t do that,” interrupted the knight. “You’ve got to come back to the castle at once. This is not negotiable,” Lieutenant Qing said.  
“Glenn, come on. You’ve got to help me here. I just wanted to spend an entire day away,” he said.  
“Like I said, Your Highness, this is not negotiable,” repeated Qing. “Either you come with us nicely, or… we can go the hard way.”  
  
Willem looked at the other eleven soldiers. It seems they were all prepared to jump on him and knock him unconscious any minute as long as they could take him back to the castle. And he also had to think that if that were the case, they wouldn’t just “attack” him, but Liz as well.  
  
“Very well,” he sighed. “I’ll go with you.”  
“Good. Let’s go,” ordered the lieutenant.  
“Wait, I need to…”  
  
He turned around to see Liz, but he discovered that far from being frightened or shocked, she was looking at him with pure hatred.  
  
“Liz?”  
“Your Highness…?” started to say Lieutenant Qing.  
“It’s okay, Glenn,” Willem said. “I just need a moment alone.”  
“But…”  
“I said to stand back!” yelled Willem.  
  
The soldiers obeyed at once. They rarely saw him using his authoritarian voice on them, especially with Lieutenant Qing, whom he was good friends with.  
  
“We will be very close,” Glenn said retreating a little.  
  
Once Willem made sure they were out of earshot, he turned again towards Liz.  
  
“Liz…”  
“You deceived me,” she said accusingly.  
“What?”  
“You’re not who I thought you were,” she said walking to the spring shore and picking the flowers and jar she had left near there.  
“Why are you so upset?”  
“I thought you were a law student,” she said. “You told me that, didn’t you?”  
“In a matter of speaking I am a law student… I’m learning about the laws of our kingdom, as part of my many duties,” he justified.  
“Still you had every opportunity to tell me you’re a royalty and yet… Nevermind. Go back to your castle and leave me alone. I’m going home.”  
“Home?”  
  
Willem remembered that she had been close to tell him something, but she had held herself before answering.  
  
“Where’s your home? Woowick?”  
“None of your business.”  
“Liz…”  
“Excuse me, Your Highness,” she said curtly making a small bow as a mocking gesture.  
“I’m serious,” he said grabbing her by the arm when she tried to pass him. “Are you planning on walking more than two hours to Woowick?”  
“No, I don’t. Let me go now.”  
“Then where…?”  
  
It suddenly hit him.  
  
“Do you, by any chance, live in that abandoned town?”  
“And if I did, so what? Like I said, it’s none of your business,” she said finally freeing herself from him and walking away leaving him rooted to the spot.  
  
She was walking through the forest. She was about to arrive the town when she heard the sound of the hooves again. She was hoping they would pass by quickly. Then her heart raced when she turned and saw Willem riding towards her. Realizing what he was after, she dropped the jar of flowers and she started running, though she wasn’t fast enough.  
  
The girl only felt one of his arms surround her waist and then she felt how he lifted her and made her sit on the horse, very close to him.  
  
“What the hell are you doing?!” inquired Liz.  
“I’m taking you with me,” replied Willem as if the matter had been settled.  
“What?! No! Let me go!” she demanded trying to wriggle out of his embrace.  
“Stay still! If you fall, you might break your neck. Is that what you want?” he asked leaning more on her so she wouldn’t escape.  
“Then stop the horse and let me go!”  
“I’m not letting you go. Now be quiet and stop fighting me,” he ordered.  
“I will not!”  
“Suit yourself,” he said, hitting the horse’s reins.  
  
The sudden sting made the horse to go even faster, which frightened her and made her shriek. She embraced him with her hand gripping tightly the clothes of his back and burring her face in his chest. The prince felt his chest getting wet and he knew she was crying. His heart ached with pain at the idea, but on the other hand, his heartbeat rocketed when she had hugged him tightly.  
  
He didn’t stop galloping and, apparently, he was the only one who had deviated because, a few minutes later, they passed the royal guard. When the lieutenant saw him, he redirected his horse and he started following him fearing that he would try to escape again. However, faithful to his word, the prince directed back to the capital city.


	2. Chapter 2

When they finally arrived at the castle, the prince had asked the knights that had come to fetch them to leave him alone again. During that time, Liz hadn’t said a word at all. Her face was still hidden in his chest.  
  
“We’ve arrived, Liz,” he announced.  
  
He realized that she was trembling. She must have been trembling the entire way, but the movements of the horse had made it unnoticeable.  
  
“Where are we?” she inquired trying to sound calm. The dried tears were still visible on her face.  
“We’ve arrived at the palace,” he said sliding down his horse.  
  
Due to her shock, she didn’t realize when he put his hands on the side of his waist and he helped her to get down from the horse as well. She looked at the castle and, despite her anger and frustration; she was awed with the building’s magnificence.   
  
He smiled at this and lowered his hood. Liz again was shocked by seeing the beautiful horns sprouting from his head, making them look as a crown. A symbol of his heritage.   
  
He really is the prince, Liz thought. Not just a prince, the heir prince. She even had heard the stories that old villagers used to tell recalling the birth of the Twilight Kingdom’s heir and his snowy-white skin and ebony hair. The hood had made a marvellous job hiding his shinning horns and silky hair, but she had to take her hat off to the long cloak that was still hiding his lizard-like tail. Old women had mentioned how those features would make him look like a god when he got older.  
  
Willem took her inside and ordered a female servant that had approached him to take care of Liz.  
  
He then left her to take a bath and hide his commoner clothes. As he had anticipated, soon after taking the bath, a male servant knocked on the prince’s door to inform him that the Prime Minister wanted a word with him. Sighing, he dressed and he went to see his uncle. When he was at the doors of his uncle’s office, he let out another sigh and then knocked on the door. He braced himself for the upcoming shouting and yelling when he heard his uncle’s voice telling him to enter.  
  
“Did you enjoy your day-off?” asked the Prime Minister. His burrowed frown was visible while he kept signing a few documents.  
“I did,” he smugly answered, not letting his uncle know his words did have an effect on him.  
“Good. This is the last time you do this, Willem,” he sentenced.  
“Yes, Uncle Conrad,” he said mockingly and rolling his eyes, since that must have been the hundredth time they had had this conversation.   
“I’m not joking, Willem,” the Prime Minister said raising his head.  
  
The Prime Minister didn’t look exactly like his nephew. He was dark-haired as him, but his skin wasn’t exactly as pale as Willem’s and he wasn’t that tall either. He did have piercing black eyes that gave the impression that he could read a person’s mind and he had a sense of responsibility even greater than any royal family member.  
  
“Your brother, Lacan, had to take care of everything while you were gone and Felix almost collapsed trying to settle the people and diplomats that had come all the way to the castle to have a meeting with you. And don’t let me start with Felix, who acts like a spoiled child every time you get off somewhere because, as he constantly reminds me, what’s the point of studying to be a future counsellor if there’s no one to counsel in the first place.”  
“Yes, Sir,” sighed Willem.  
  
His uncle got up from his seat and crossed the desk. Someone else might have gotten scared by that, but the prince was already used to it.  
  
“Don’t ‘Yes, Sir’ me, Willem. I have suffered enough with your attitude. You may well start to take people, especially your family, into consideration before running off Heavens-know-where. You’re the crown prince and need to start acting like one.”  
  
The Prime Minister turned his back on his nephew and started returning to his chair.   
  
“It’s not fair…”  
“I’m sorry?” said his uncle stopping and turning to look at him.  
“I said it’s not fair!” Willem exclaimed getting up. “Why do I have to be the crown prince? I don’t want the crown or the throne. Lacan or Felix are more qualified than me to become king. I just want…”  
“What?” interrupted his uncle “What do you want, Willem? To be a knight, a soldier, to be a bum with nothing to worry about except where you’re going to sleep or what you’re going to eat? You think that if you don’t have the responsibilities of a royal member, then you’ll be free? Free to do whatever you want without any consequences? Wake up, young man! The world isn’t that simple. No matter where you are, you have to work hard. And, I can assure you, life isn’t that easy when you don’t live in a palace. Everyone got their own problems in this world.”  
  
Willem kept looking at his uncle. He didn’t have anything to say.  
  
“When are you going to stop being selfish?”  
  
The Prime Minister looked at his firstborn nephew. He loved him, Heavens knew he did. He loved all his nephews for that matter and he felt responsible for them and their future, especially when his brother was absent due to his diplomatic travels he had to take. When the prince didn’t say anything, then he turned and sat on the chair behind his desk again.   
  
“Are you going to tell my father, Uncle?”  
“No, I won’t. I sense your father has more than enough on his plate already with all the international meetings.”  
“Thank you.”  
“I’m not doing it so I become your secret-keeper. I just don’t want to give my brother any more trouble,” he commented.  
“Still, I appreciate it,” the prince said.  
  
Feeling like he had been dismissed, Willem got up and was about to take his leave when…  
  
“By the way, I heard that you brought a girl with you,” said the Prime Minister going back to check on some official papers.  
“I did…”  
“Why?”  
“I just felt sorry for her,” he replied.  
“You felt sorry…?” his uncle repeated. “What are you planning to do with her?” Conrad inquired.  
“I was planning to make her my lady-in-waiting,” commented Willem. “You know, someone to talk to during my leisure time.”  
“You should have taken a young lad or a noblewoman for that matter.”  
“I like her… I mean, to talk to her,” he finished fearing his uncle would think other things.  
“Normally noblemen don’t usually have a lady-in-waiting, Willem,” said Conrad looking at him suspiciously.  
“I know… But she’s different,” the prince mentioned. “I don’t have any ulterior motives,” he added.  
“Then why keep her close to you?”  
“I’m sorry?”  
“You think my own brothers didn’t have ‘ladies-in-waiting’? And I don’t like to talk about it, but they never were the same. In the mornings, they would always get a new one, if you get what I mean…” he said sighing in frustration.  
“I can assure you, Uncle Conrad, this is not about… that.”   
  
He tried to make sure his uncle knew that he really didn’t think of her as a casual thing.  
  
“She’s just an orphan. I felt sorry for her. Nothing else.”  
  
His uncle pierced him with his gaze. Willem stood there not breaking eye contact with his uncle.  
  
“Have Amelia to teach her to be a lady-in-waiting then,” the Prime Minister said. “But if she causes any troubles, Willem, I want her out,” he sentenced.  
“Thank you, Uncle,” he sighed in relief and he left the room.  
  
After his leave, the Prime Minister stayed there looking at the door. Through another door someone else entered. He was a tall, white-skinned young man and had long, dark-pink hair and a light-pink eye. His other eye was hidden behind a long hair bang.  
  
“Did you see her?” asked Conrad.  
“I did,” the young man said.  
“And…?”  
“She seems like a good girl. I don’t see any ulterior motives from her. She doesn’t even like to be here,” reported the man.  
“Is that so?” he sounded genuinely surprised.   
“I heard from one of the female knights that the prince kind of brought her to the palace against her will,” he commented.  
“Willem has never acted like this,” said Conrad. “No matter how far he went, he had never brought a woman with him.”  
“He did bring strayed dogs, though. Back when he was a young lad.”  
“You think this is like those cases? Is she like a strayed puppy?”  
“More like a strayed bunny,” the young man commented with a smile.  
“Very well. I will trust your judgment, Vain. Tell your brother to keep an eye on her too, just in case… Report anything back to me. Is that clear?”  
“Yes, Sir.”  
  
  
When Willem got back to his room, the most spectacular vision (in his opinion) greeted him. Liz was on the balcony looking at the city and a rush of wind was giving her the air of an ethereal creature that would fly away any moment. She had been changed into a lovely pink dress that suited her figure. Her back was entirely exposed and the fabric seems so light that her skirt fluttered with the wind.  
  
The prince got closer and she realized about his presence. When she turned around, it took a lot of self-control for Willem not to gasp to the sight of her.  
  
“That dress looks good on you,” he commented with a smile.  
“One of the ladies told me it belonged to a servant girl who was ‘exchanged’ to another lord from another kingdom. This is the only thing she left,” said Liz looking at the horizon.  
  
Girls talk too much, Willem thought. He let out a grunt letting know that he didn’t want her to know that. He didn’t want to give her the false impression that she was disposable.  
  
“Well… I don’t know if…” he started saying to justify what had happened with that girl.  
“Why did you bring me here, Sire?”  
  
That word pained him.  
  
“Willem, remember?”  
  
He came closer to her and with his finger lifted her chin. A sweet smile could be seen on his face. She, on the other hand, didn’t look like that gesture had any effect on her. She got separated from him and made sure to keep a distance.  
  
“I want to know why you brought me here, _Sire_ ” he put a lot emphasis on the last word.  
  
The prince realized then that she was not being polite or following etiquette. She was giving him the cold shoulder.  
  
“I thought we were friends,” he said.  
“We barely know each other,” she replied brusquely. “Besides, you lied to me.”  
“I didn’t exactly lie. I told you, technically, I am a law student.”  
  
He chuckled at his own wittiness, but she kept quiet.  
  
“Liz, please, forgive me,” he finally said, realizing he had been in the wrong. “It’s just… I don’t know…”  
  
He sat on a nearby sofa.   
  
“I guess I liked the way you treated me,” he said. “You didn’t treat me so formally. You just treated me like any other person. I sort of liked it...”  
  
He looked at her with a weak smile, yet she continued to look at him in a resentful way. This started to annoy him.  
  
“Fine. I want you to be my lady-in-waiting,” he declared.  
“What?”   
“I just need you to serve me,” he said.  
“I’m not a servant!” she exclaimed indignantly.  
“No! I didn’t express myself correctly,” he commented before she ran towards the door. She grabbed her by the arm again to stop her. “I just need company.”  
  
This seemed to have an opposite effect.  
  
“If what you want is to have someone in your bed…”  
“No! I mean… I…”  
  
He had chosen the wrong words again. How he could make her understand? He normally was very good talking but with her… He seemed to become a young boy who’s barely capable of putting two words together.  
  
“I never meant that… I just want to take care of you. You’re going to be my lady-in-waiting. Someone will teach you what your responsibilities would be,” he said.  
“But…”  
“No ‘but’. This is your home now,” he sentenced leaving the room.  
  
Liz remained staring at the door. For a moment she felt she was trapped. She wanted to escape, but she smartly sensed that Willem had given orders to not to let her leave the palace. She went back to “her room” and threw herself onto the bed and cried all night long. 


	3. Chapter 3

When Liz woke up the next day, she had trouble remembering where she was. The door burst open and a girl with orange hair and brown eyes entered the room. She was wearing a maid uniform that actually suited her figure.  
  
“Good morning, Miss,” she greeted Liz while pulling the curtains so the sunlight entered the room.  
“Hello,” she greeted back rubbing her eyelids.  
“Are you ready to get up?”  
“What time is it?”  
“It’s past ten in the morning,” she answered.  
“What?!”  
  
She hadn’t slept that long before. Well, she had, but that was back when she was a happy little girl that lived with her parents.  
  
“No worries, Miss,” the maid said putting a tray near her bed. “The prince told us that you might still need time to adjust to the palace. He asked us to let you sleep for as long as you wanted.”  
“I never said…”  
“It’s all right, Miss.”  
“But…”  
“Take your time,” she kindly advised.  
  
The sweet smile the girl had, made Liz realize that she was being friendly.  
  
“Thank you,” she finally said corresponding that smile, “What’s your name?”  
“I’m Amelia and I’ll be your personal maid, Miss,” she said.  
“My personal maid?” she asked confused.  
“Yes, Miss.”  
“But I thought that I would be in the palace as a servant. How is it that you’re my maid?”  
“I understand your confusion. It’s rather simple. Everyone in the palace, with the exception of the royal family members, is a sort of servant. Event those scholars who come to teach something to the princes are servants,” she kindly explained. “But there are servants who had a higher status than others and these are the ones having people working for them. Prince Willem has told us you’re to be his lady-in-waiting.”  
  
This last sentence was said with a tone that marked it was kind of differently for her. Liz could imagine why. She wasn’t stupid. Many people, even people living outside the capital knew that most of these girls tended to have other services than just pouring wine to the prince’s cup.  
  
“Look, Prince Willem isn’t like many men. None of the princes are, as a matter of fact. My mother, who saw the princes growing up, has mentioned me that they’re fine, decent young men,” she commented. “Maybe it has something to do with their mother dying young.”  
“I remember that I was very young when the sound of bells around the whole country started to ring due to the Queen’s death. Our town’s bells chimed for an hour as a sign of regret for her death.”  
“Yes, poor prince Felix was just a little boy back then,” she reminisced.  
“I thought he was already fifty years old!”  
“Well, that kind of is like being a young boy for Dragonkins,” she laughed. “But the three princes turned out just fine. They’re good guys.”  
“I bet…” she bitterly marked.  
“They are!”  
  
She remembered the picnic she had shared with Willem at the spring. She had found him to be a kind man and she had enjoyed his company. But then she remembered how he had lied to her and, to tell the truth, it hadn’t been an improvement the whole prince-thing. She had motives but she wasn’t sure to share them with Amelia, whom she had just met.  
  
“All right,” said Amelia leaving for a moment the room and then returning immediately with fresh clothes. “You’ll be wearing these for today,” she announced.  
“But I just got new clothes…”  
“Like I said, a lady-in-waiting is one of the highest servants we have in the palace. They’re not like other servants. They don’t have uniforms of any sort. So you need new clothes, one for each day and you’ll need to change them constantly.”  
“But…”  
“This is how things work here,” interrupted Amelia guessing what Liz was going to protest.  
“I feel like it’s a waste.”  
  
Amelia smiled at her comment. Then she undressed Liz despite her protests and, again, she had to insist on her previous statement.  
  
“Everyone feels that way when they start to work here,” she commented, while putting her on a beautiful, blue, silk dress. “I did too, but you get used to it. There!”  
  
Amelia announced turning Liz to a mirror. She saw her own reflection. She was beautiful. Even with her hair undone, the dress was very complimentary on her figure and a little revealing on her cleavage.  
  
“So what do I do now? What does a lady-in-waiting do?”  
“Well, you just make sure to have Prince Willem’s chamber to be impeccable, but you don’t do it yourself. You just supervise. If the prince requests to bring him a beverage or a snack, then you come with a servant, which probably will be me, and then you must keep the prince company until he finishes. The prince has asked for you to be with him in every meal as well. This isn’t seen often, I have to admit… There are other things, but you’ll learn them slowly.”  
“So I should probably check the prince’s chamber.”  
“Actually you just have to wait until lunch. His chambers have been taken care of by now. You have some leisure time until then. If you need anything then you can call me.”  
“All right…”  
  
Amelia left. Liz thought of staying in her room until then, but she figured that in the near future she would be asked to know the castle a bit more, so she decided to explore it.  
  
She started to walk the halls. There were so many doors and windows and so many halls that she was afraid of getting lost. She reached down a hall and at the end of it, she saw that one of the two wooden doors was opened. She entered the room.  
  
It was a huge library. She couldn’t believe her eyes. She liked to read but her personal library consisted only in a dozen of books. She guessed that there must have been at least a thousand of books in this one. Not to mention the beautiful carpet, the oak wooden bookshelves, the ladders leaning on the shelves and the crystal ceiling gave the impression of being inside a bubble of pure knowledge.  
  
She started to trace her fingers on the bookcases. Just by touching them she felt the powerful essence of the words left by the writers. She grabbed one that sounded interesting, then she came across another title, and then another. Ten minutes later she had at least ten books in her arms.  
  
Just when she came down the end of one of the shelves she bumped into someone. Some of the books fell from her arms as well as the ones the other person was carrying.  
  
“Watch it! Will you?” said angrily the man.  
“I’m sorry. I didn’t see you,” she said kneeling to pick up the books.  
  
The man also had to crouch down to pick his books.  
  
“Who are you?” asked the man. “I hadn’t seen you before.”  
“I’m rather new around here,” she replied.  
“New maid?” asked the young man getting up.  
“No, I’m Prince Willem’s new lady-in-waiting,” she answered getting up as well.  
“Willem’s you say?”  
  
She looked at him. If this young man was referring to the prince without a title, then that must mean he was close to him by blood.  
  
“Are you…?”  
“Prince Felix,” he answered before she could finish the question.  
  
She had no idea. The young prince didn’t look like his older brother. His eyes and skin were similar as well as the fact that he had horns as well. He had a beautiful hair like a water-colouring sandy brown. Also, his features were more delicate, less mature. He looked closer to Liz’s age than Willem.  
  
“I’m sorry, Sire, I truly didn’t see you there,” she repeated.  
“Be careful next time,” he coldly answered.  
“I will,” she said in the same tone.  
  
This surprised Felix, as he normally was treated with the utmost respect and courtesy. She bowed, but again, it was more like a mocking sign than as a respectful one and started to walk away.  
  
“Hold it there!” called Felix.  
  
She stopped and looked at Felix indifferently.  
  
“Yes, Sire?”  
“I’m sure Willem is all right letting someone to address him in such a rude way, but as a prince, you shall treat me with respect. Do you understand?”  
“I’m sorry,” she said sarcastically. “In what way am I being rude? Have I insulted you?”  
“Yes.”  
“When?”  
“Just now!”  
“Really? What did I say that offended you?”  
“Nothing…” he started saying.  
“Then I guess I didn’t really insulted you,” she said.  
“Yes, you did!”  
“How?”  
“With your attitude,” he replied.  
“My attitude?”  
“Yes.”  
“In what way did my attitude offend you?”  
“Let’s start with not showing me any respect at all.”  
“Didn’t I? How did I manage that?”  
“You’re doing it right now!”  
“What?”  
“Showing me no respect!”  
“What would be the appropriate attitude to show you ‘respect’, Sire?”  
“You should be more polite,” he said.  
“Have I said anything rude to you?”  
“No, but… I mean, you… Your attitude is rude.”  
“Please, do enlighten me on how I accomplish that.”  
  
Felix shut himself up. This girl was wrecking his nerves. She was sort of right. She, technically, hadn’t done anything wrong.  
  
“Never mind,” he said turning his head and walking away.  
“May I give you a piece of advice, Sire?”  
“What?”  
“Respect isn’t only one-way; it goes in both directions. So next time you demand respect, start by showing it first. Just because you’re a prince doesn’t automatically mean that all your subjects are going to be happy to see you and, therefore, devote themselves to you. You need to earn their trust and respect as well. Good day.”  
  
She walked away with her nose high. Felix stood there dumbstruck. The girl had known she was being rude, but she had played him. She was smart. He gave her credit for that. The little prince left the library and never realised how he had gotten into his little reading chamber. He seemed to be doing everything in an automatic mode.  
  
“Felix!”  
“What?” he asked shocked to be yelled at by his brother.  
“I’ve been calling you for the past five minutes and you never responded,” his brother explained.  
  
Lacan was staring at him with concern.  
  
“Really? I didn’t notice you there.”  
  
These words reminded him the girl he had met in the library.  
  
“Are you ill?” Lacan asked touching Felix’s forehead.  
“I’m fine,” he answered brushing off his brother’s gesture. “What do you want?”  
“Did you hear that Willem got himself a new lady-in-waiting?”  
“I just received the news.”  
“Really? Who told you?”  
“She did. I just met her in the library.”  
“You did? What’s she like?”  
“She’s… ordinary,” he finally said. “I don’t know why Willem brought her here, but I couldn’t see anything especial in her. The only thing I could see is that she’s wily.”  
“Is she?”  
“Yes,” he answered bitterly.  
“Why do you say that?”  
“She…” he started saying but stopped himself.  
“She…?” encouraged his brother.  
  
Felix sighed and told Lacan everything that had happened in the library.  
  
“Well, she’s an interesting girl,” he commented when his brother finished.  
“What makes you say that?”  
“I’ve got my reasons, and you, dear brother, will see it too, eventually,” he said.  
“She’s an obnoxious, annoying, little…”  
“Felix, you’re not used to someone like her,” Lacan said. “Why don’t you apologize to her?”  
“Me? Why?” he asked indignantly.  
“Because you were rude to her,” answered Lacan. “And don’t give me that look. Perhaps Willem is right. We’ve spoiled you too much. You’re used to everyone reverencing you as a royal member, but you haven’t tried to be sympathetic with the masses.”  
“I…”  
“It’s the truth, Felix. Willem exaggerates with his empathy towards people to the point where he practically rejects his bloodline. I have been in a few events talking with, at least, the merchants and the leaders of the city sectors; but you have been all this time locked up in the palace. Maybe she could teach you things that can’t be learned in the books. Things that could have been taught to you before, but we simply couldn’t.”  
“Like what?”  
“Like to respect others the way you want them to respect you,” Lacan said with a sly smile.  
  
Felix knew he was using her words on purpose.  
  
“Do you think she’s still in the library?” asked Lacan “I’d like to meet her.”  
“Probably, but you’re not missing out of anything especial,” he said shrugging his shoulders. “Why the sudden interest?”  
“I was just interested in knowing what kind of girl would attract Willem,” he replied. “And by what you’ve told me, I’m becoming more intrigued.”  
“The kind of girl that could pass as a plain cliché of a country girl,” Felix commented with disdain.  
“I’ll go meet her, then,” Lacan said.  
  
Then he left the room. Felix stared at the door shocked that his brothers seemed to show interest over a common girl. What ignited his interest, though, was that if he recalled correctly, the girl had a mountain of books in her arms, which probably meant she was bookworm, like him. Without realizing it, a faint smile showed on his face and he continued reading.

* * *

  
“Would you like something else?” Willem asked a little concerned.

  
A few days had passed and they had spent every meal together, yet Willem still felt like they were two strangers. It wasn’t the same. He had felt very comfortable and closer to her on the day they had met than now they spent more time together.  
  
She shook her head as a response to his question. She had barely touched her food and now she was playing with it. Willem was starting to get annoyed by the cold shoulder she was showing to him.  
  
“I would advise you not to go wandering too far away from your room. Especially if you’re still getting familiar with the surroundings.”  
  
She grunted as a sign of acknowledgement.  
  
“Liz, please, look at me,” he pleaded.  
  
The tone of his voice made her obey.  
  
“I really want to know you,” he said reaching out and grabbing one of her hands. “I really want us to be friends. Please, can’t we talk like the first time we met? I know you’re not really like this.”  
“I want to go home.”  
  
Willem let go off her hand. That’s the only thing she said. He had heard she talked to others. She had talked to the librarian man, Sigurd; the orchestra maestro, Joel; she had talked with several of the girls in King’s guards. Rumor had spread that she even had dared to tell off prince Felix. But to Willem… she only had those words. She never said anything else. She nodded or shook her head just to answer some of his questions. The ones with a yes-or-no answer; the other ones she simply shrugged her shoulders and grunted.  
  
The prince got up and walked away. Liz saw him leaving the room and closing the door that led to the washing room. She stood up and walked to the balcony. She knew she was hurting him with her indifference, but she needed to return and Willem had left instructions to not to let her go out the palace. She stared at the city. The view from the prince’s balcony was breathtaking, yet she couldn’t enjoy it. Not while she was aware that she was a prisoner in a golden cage.  
  
“You can go,” said a voice behind her.  
  
The prince was leaning on the balcony’s doorway with his arms crossed. A pained expression on his face, but he seemed resolute.  
  
“What did you say?”  
“You can go. I’ll take you back myself after dinner. Is that okay?”  
“Are you serious?”  
  
This time, it was him who didn’t answer and, instead, he turned around and left the room.

* * *

  
As promised, Willem left the palace on his horse with Liz sitting in front of him. Dinner had been exactly like the picnic they had shared a few days ago. Liz had confirmed him that indeed she had reprimanded his youngest brother. She had also told him about all the people she had met. Willem had listened to her and had asked questions on her thoughts and perception about everything. He had smiled the entire time without realizing it. When he had announced that it was time to leave, to his surprise, or maybe it was what he wanted to believe, she had looked like she was sad.  
  
“We’ve arrived,” he announced.  
  
Liz could see the familiar surroundings. Willem dismounted the horse and then helped her to slide down as well. While she was looking at her hometown, the prince looked busy untying something from the horse’s back.  
  
“Here,” he said giving her a bulge. “They’re clothes and food for the next days.”  
  
Liz took it and looked him in the eyes. She could see sorrow in his pupils.  
  
“I… I wanted you to know that it was never my intention to make you feel like a prisoner. I really thought that you would like to live in the palace. To have accommodations that you might not have here,” he said looking at the burnt town. “Maybe I was wrong in not asking you first. I apologize.”  
  
She kept silent holding the bag with the food and clothes.  
  
“Well, I guess this is good-bye,” he sighed.  
  
Those words tasted bitter in his mouth, yet they were true. He was never going to see her again, because the palace, at his own command, had increased the security. Besides, as a part of a deal to leave the palace unaccompanied and after dark, he had promised his uncle that he would never leave the castle again.  
  
He was about to mount his horse again, when her voice stopped him.  
  
“Willem, wait!”  
  
He looked at her. She was using his name again.  
  
“I understand. I really do. I just wish you had asked me.”  
“Again, I’m really sorry.”  
  
He tried to leave again believing he had been dismissed.  
  
“I want you to come with me,” she said.  
“Where?”  
“You’ll see…” she said with a shroud of mystery.  
  
They entered into an old house. One of the few remaining. She put the bulge on a table and then grabbed a vase. She then took him to a garden in the back of the house, where she picked a few aruenaristies. Willem remembered that the first time he had met her, she had had a vase full of them and, if his memory didn’t fail him, she had been collecting water to put into the vase.  
  
Leading him, she took him further into the woods. When they reached a flower field, she stopped and kneeled down before two piles of rocks. She put the vase between them and then clasped her hands together in a praying pose.  
  
A tomb! She had led him to what he, rightfully, guessed were her parents tombs. He kneeled down next to her as a sign of respect.  
  
“The day you kidnapped me,” she said, still with her eyes closed, “it was their wedding anniversary. Papa always gave Mama the aruenaristies. It was their favourite flower. It’s one of the many things they shared. Four times a year I bring them these flowers: for each of their birthdays; their wedding anniversary; and their death anniversary.”  
“I’m sorry,” he said.  
“It’s okay now,” she said opening her eyes and lowering her hands, “Like I said, I understand why you did what you did.”  
  
He looked at her and she smiled at him.  
  
“Then I will ask you this time,” he said. “Would you like to come to live in the palace?”  
“Will I be able to visit my parents’ grave?”  
“Of course!”  
“Then, I guess it’s fine,” she said standing up and wiping off the dust from her knees. “I’ll just collect a few things and we can go back.”  
  
Willem smiled at her.  
  
“Shall we go?” she asked waiting for him to stand up as well.  
“In a moment, I’d like to talk to your parents, if you don’t mind.”  
  
She was surprised but pleased at this request. With a smile on her face, she left him alone. Once Willem had made sure she was out of earshot, he turned to Liz’s parents’ graves.  
  
“I promise I’ll protect her. Rest assured that I’ll provide her a good life.”  
  
At that time a gentle breeze blew around the trees. Feeling their blessing, Willem stood up and went to help Liz with her packing.


	4. Chapter 4

A few weeks had passed and Liz was starting to feel like home. She had made good friends with a lot of people. Her usual routine consisted in waking up way too early in the morning and spending the first hour in the stables to caress the prince’s horse and giving him a carrot. She had also made friends with another silver horse that had been recently brought to the palace. She would meet with Captain Vincent who, in Liz’s opinion, was really a gentle and easy-going man as well as funny. Then she would have breakfast with Willem. After breakfast, she would spend about two hours of leisure time on getting two or three books and read them either in the library or at to the northern garden. The northern garden felt more like a forest instead of a garden due to the many trees planted.  
  
“Hello, Liz,” greeted prince Lacan with a smile.  
  
She would normally meet the prince in this garden, who liked to spend a few minutes out before he went to shut down in his office the rest of the morning.  
  
“Hello, Prince,” she greeted him politely, then she noticed that this time he wasn’t alone.  
  
She saw Prince Felix staring at her. They hadn't spoken again since her first day in the palace, when she had reprimanded him for demanding respect when he had shown none to others.  
  
“I think you have met Felix?” Lacan said.  
“We’ve had an encounter,” commented Felix disdainfully.  
  
Liz stared at him with a little resentful gaze and Felix could see that.  
  
“What’s the matter, Liz?” asked Lacan playfully.  
  
Though Prince Lacan was more polite than Felix, Liz still couldn’t trust him entirely. His playful character wouldn’t be a problem at all — after all, Vincent had the same sort of behavior —, however, his title made her difficult for her to approach him.  
  
“It’s nothing, Your Highness,” she replied coldly.  
“I told you, you could call me Lacan,” the prince said with a seductive smile.  
  
He reminds me a little of Luca and Randy, thought Liz.  
  
Luca was the gardener’s son or at least that what he said, because Amelia didn’t seem to know him at all. Liz had met him by accident when she got lost and she almost stepped out of the palace boundaries without realizing it. Luca had tried to seduce her and, at some point, she had been trapped in his arms with her back against a wall. Luca had leaned over her and tried to kiss her but, just before their lips met, a maid had let out a surprised cry at the sight of them. Luca had separated from her immediately and disappeared.  
  
That time she hadn’t said anything to anyone and apparently, to Liz’s relief, the maid hadn’t blabbed about it either. Still, it became odd that no one had heard about Luca.  
  
Randy, on the other hand, was another kind of playful character. He was the baker’s apprentice and he loved to bake sweets, although his bread was just as delicious. He teased Liz a lot and he gave her sweets every time she visited the kitchens. Yukiya, who was the royal’s kitchen sous chef’s apprentice, also treated her to any meal she liked, which upset the heir prince because, when it was time for lunch or dinner — depending on what time she went to the kitchens —, she didn’t eat much in front of him. For some reason, unknown to Liz, Willem loved to watch her eating.  
  
“Would you like to join us?” the second prince asked, still with that smug smile, yet there was something appealing in him this time. “I’ve got some sweets. I believe they’re your favorites.”  
  
Indeed they were. Lacan was showing her Randy’s new cookies invention. He hadn’t given to the royal family members because the rules dictated not to give them anything new until they passed all the necessary tests. Even without the cookies or new meals, Liz thought, they still had plenty dishes to eat. After all, in all the weeks she had been living in the castle, she’d never eaten the same meal twice, except for the fruits at breakfast.  
  
She stared at the cookies. She couldn’t resist those and she had the feeling that Lacan knew this. She came closer and grabbed one. The taste immediately put a smile on her face.  
  
“You look prettier when you smile,” Lacan said.  
“Don’t tease me, Sir,” she replied.  
“Felix agrees, don’t you Felix?”  
“I don’t see any change at all,” he simply answered.  
  
_At least he’s honest_ , thought Liz.  
  
“Are you still mad, Felix? Don’t you have anything to say to dear Liz?” encouraged Lacan.  
“No,” he said bluntly.  
“Are you sure?” Lacan asked with a scolding tone in his voice.  
  
Felix pursed his lips and then with a sigh, he directed his head towards Liz.  
  
“I’m sorry,” he finally said.  
“Are you apologizing to me?” she asked.  
“Yes,” he said.  
  
Liz could tell it wasn’t something that came from the bottom of his heart, but it was an advance on his behavior.  
  
“Thank you, Your Highness, I appreciate it,” she smiled at him.  
  
Felix’s heart skipped a beat. He wondered what that meant.  
  
“I do want to apologize as well for treating you so coldly, before,” she said.  
  
This also surprised the little prince. He never imagined she would apologize as well, he thought she would be gloating and she would try to humiliate him more, but she was really nice.  
  
“Care to join us for a little snack then?” asked Lacan to Liz. “Think of it as another attempt of apology from Felix.”  
“He doesn’t have to…” she laughed knowing that prince Lacan was using his brother as an excuse.  
“I think I do…” he mentioned.  
  
This took her by surprise. He was really trying to apologize this time, by himself. She smiled and sat between the two brothers.  
  
“How come you’re not glued to our brother this time?”  
“He’s in his office working some papers the Prime Minister asked him to revise,” she answered taking a scone and buttering it.  
“I see…”  
“Maybe we should go and help him,” commented Felix.  
“In a minute,” Lacan commented, “I really want to talk to Liz a little bit more.”  
“I…” she didn’t know how to respond to that.  
“What is that?” asked Felix spotting one of Liz’s books.  
“Oh, it’s a book I’d heard about, but I hadn’t been able to read it yet,” she said.  
  
It was a book on beasts and their caring.  
  
“Do you like this kind of reading?”  
“I do. I mean, I love animals,” she mentioned. “When I was a little girl, I wanted to be an animal’s doctor and I wanted to have lots of pets.”  
“Do you have a favorite?” asked Lacan quite interested in this.  
“Oh, I love all,” she answered, “but if I had to pick one… I think dragons would be my favorites,” she said.  
“Dragons?” he asked perplexed at her answer.  
“I know they’re extinct now,” she said.  
“Pretty much,” said Felix.  
“But I can’t help it. The first time I ever heard about dragons, I found them fascinating and amazing,” she said reminiscing the time when her mother had told her old stories about princes and dragons.  
“Yes, they were wonderful creatures,” Felix said smiling.  
“What’s that Felix? A smile?” teased his brother.  
“Not at all,” he replied. His cheeks blushed with a deep red colour.  
  
A butler came and he whispered something to Lacan’s ear.  
  
“Oh, dear,” he sighed. “I believe that Uncle Conrad has heard of me ditching on Willem,” he said.  
“I told you,” reprimanded Felix to his big brother.  
“Yeah, yeah… Well, Liz, I guess this is all for this morning. Feel free to pass to my office any time you want,” he said coming closer to her and putting a hand on her shoulder, he whispered in her ear, “or better yet, to my bedchamber.”  
  
She felt her cheeks becoming hot at his suggestion.  
  
When Lacan left, Felix and Liz remained alone. At first, there was an awkward silence between them.  
  
“If you’re interested in dragons and all about how they used to be or their way of living, our library has a vast collection of them,” Felix made an ice-breaker comment.  
“Yes, I could see that in my first week here,” she said excited. “Oh, I really loved the one in which Claude Molders classified them according to their physical appearance and magic characteristics.”  
“Are you fond of magic as well?” he inquired.  
“Well, I think so, I mean, I love magical beasts like unicorns and phoenixes, but I don’t think I’ll ever meet one.”  
“To think that in future generations they will become in nothing more than a myth,” Felix said with a hint of sadness in his voice. “This will mean that also we, the Dragonkins, will become one eventually.”  
“I’m really sorry,” she said putting a hand on his to comfort him.  
  
Felix stared for a moment at this gesture. No one, not even in his family had treated him this kindly. His brothers didn’t bully him, but they just grew apart after their mother died. Willem avoided him constantly, which created a breach between them. Not that he hated him or anything of the sort, but they didn’t have anything in common anymore. Not to mention that, although his father wasn’t really cold, he was just away most of the time. It had been a long time since the last time he had felt this closeness to someone.  
  
He squeezed her hand in an acknowledgement gesture.  
  
They discussed a little more about extinct beasts when another butler came closer to Felix and reminded him about his duties. For the first time ever, Felix wanted to stay a little longer talking to Liz, but unlike any of his brothers, he was really aware of the consequences behind his selfishness. That was a feature his uncle loved about him.  
  
He bid good-bye to Liz and, to her surprise; he commented how he wanted to have another conversation with her the next day. He made her promise to have a snack with him every day at the same hour.  
  
The next thing in her agenda was to watch Willem in his sword and fencing class. His teacher was normally General Smith, other times, if the General was too busy, some of the other guards or important soldiers would take his place and be Willem’s instructor.  
  
It was a part of her responsibilities to give them refreshments when they got tired. Also, during their break Liz’s job would be to talk to Willem a little. What amazed General Smith, is that Willem was now taking his lessons seriously. He tried really hard to defeat the general. Dragonkins, by nature, wouldn’t spill a drop of sweat. But Willem tried so hard that he had to take a towel or napkin and dry the few drops that formed in his forehead.  
  
“Good job, Your Highness,” General Smith praised after the lessons were over.  
“Thank you, General,” he replied.  
  
Liz came with cold beverages for the both of them.  
  
“Good job to both of you.”  
“Thank you, Miss Liz,” General Smith said.  
“Thanks, Liz,” Willem said gulping his water.  
“By the way, Miss Liz, I was going to let you know that according to your proposal, Captain Vincent is quite interested,” he commented.  
“Really? That’s great!”  
“What proposal?”  
  
His heart had stopped at the word.  
  
“She wants to learn to ride a horse,” the General answered.  
“What?!”  
“I thought you knew, Sire,” he said.  
“I didn’t,” he said.  
“Miss Liz…?”  
“I didn’t lie…” she said defensively to the general. “I told you I got permission from the prince… I just omitted which prince.”  
“Which prince gave his permission?” asked the general.  
“Prince Lacan,” she said looking down at the ground.  
“Wait… Since when does my brother give orders referent to you?”  
“I asked him to give his permission to the soldiers so someone could be my teacher. He actually wanted to teach me himself, but he’s got a mountain of workload and he couldn’t do it,” she explained. “And no one gives orders on me. I asked him to do it as a favor.”  
  
Willem remained silent, but he adopted a sulky face. General Smith now was certain that Willem’s renovated behavior was due to this girl. This girl had the prince in the palm of her hand but she didn’t realize it. The heir prince asked her if it wasn’t time for lunch, so she went ahead to give word to the kitchens to send the food to the prince’s chambers.  
  
“I don’t want her to learn, General,” the prince said after she was out of earshot.  
“Umm… This is also a request from another royal member, Your Highness,” he mentioned.  
“Yes, but even among royal family members there are ranks, and I believe mine is above my brothers’,” he commented with a hint of annoyance in his voice.  
  
The General knew he had offended the prince, but he really wanted to make Liz happy. She had come to the general and asked this particular petition. He had found she was a charming little girl and if he had had a daughter, Liz would be the role model he would look for.  
  
“Sire, I understand you might feel apprehensive over the idea of her getting hurt, but I can assure you, we’ll be extremely care…”  
“I don’t want her to learn! Understood?”  
“But, Sire…”  
“I’ll see you in the next lesson,” Willem said as a dismissive.  
  
The general saw him walking away, but after some steps, before he was too far away from earshot, the general shouted:  
  
“She will hate you for this,” he finally said.  
“What?”  
  
Willem had stopped and he turned to see his teacher.  
  
“Sire, if you do what you’re ordering me to do and she finds out the order came from you, she isn’t going to be happy,” he advised. “If she wants to learn, nothing will stop her. She’s even capable of leaving the castle and find other tutors. But we can provide her a safe environment so she can learn properly. If she doesn’t like it, she will tell us. Let her make her own decisions,” he advised him.  
  
The prince seemed to be sorting his thoughts. He definitely didn’t want her to get hurt, but he still remembered the last time he did something without her consent.  
  
“Are you going to be extra careful with her?”  
“Of course,” he replied with no hesitation.  
  
Willem seemed to think it through. Then he came to a conclusion.  
  
“I will personally attend to her lessons. Do not even start without me there. I promise I won’t interfere. I’ll just be there watching. That’s all.”  
“Very well, Your Highness,” said the general bowing his head and taking his leave.

* * *

  
Liz was helping a maid to set the dishes on the table, when the prince showed up. He was really exhausted and wanted a moment to sleep. She was about to let him sleep like he said he wanted, when he grabbed her hand to stop her.  
  
“Come with me,” he asked.  
  
He led her to his bedchamber and, for a fleeting moment, she was afraid that he would force himself on her. Yet, he only pushed her on the bed and just when she was about to shout at him that he had promised her he wouldn’t do that with her, the prince crawled onto the bed as well, put his arms around her waist, his head on her abdomen and closed his eyes.  
  
“What the…?” she started saying.  
“Hush now…” he begged. “I told you, I just want to sleep.”  
“Wouldn’t you be more comfortable if you slept by yourself?” she asked.  
“No. Your body warmth is really comforting to me,” he bluntly replied. “Besides, you smell incredible…”  
  
His words trailed off and Liz knew he was sleeping soundly due to his soft snoring and the up and down pace of his chest. The girl was also a bit afraid of his horns, but they seemed okay. They weren’t as sharp as she had thought. Not knowing what else to do, she started to caress his hair, which made Willem smile in his dreams. His hair felt so silky that she couldn’t help but to smile too at the soft sensation. Somehow, Liz also felt at peace and before she knew it, she dozed off too.  
  
Willem woke up with her hand placed on his hair, very close to his pointy ear. She was asleep too and, to him, it was a vision he could contemplate for eternity, if possible. Her other hand was almost touching her own cheek. She looked so relaxed as well with her chest going up and down. He wondered what she would be dreaming about.  
  
To his grief, Willem couldn’t wait for her to wake up on her own. He would've gladly let her sleep, yet he knew that she had other things to do. Besides, they both needed to eat. He shook her shoulder gently.  
  
“Liz, wake up…” he said soflty in her ear.  
  
She stirred a little and her eyes opened very slowly.  
  
“Willem?” she asked a little surprised to see him so close to her.  
“Wake up, Sleeping Beauty,” he greeted her. “It’s time for lunch.”  
“Lunch? What time is it?” she asked rubbing her eyelids.  
“We slept for an hour,” he commented.  
“What?! How…?”  
“You tell me,” he chuckled at her astonishment. “Last thing I remember was that I was sleepy and wanted to take a nap. You were supposed to be awake.”  
“It’s not my fault! It was…”  
  
She stopped. She was going to say it was him who made her feel so peaceful that she dozed off, but she imagined that Willem would take it in the wrong way. Therefore, she came up with a white lie.  
  
“It was your bed. I mean, your bed is too soft and comfortable,” she said with her cheeks beet red.  
“I guess you’re right,” he commented rousing his body from bed. “Come on,” he said extending his hand to her, “We need to eat and carry on with the day.”  
  
She took his hand and when he pulled her, she tripped and, to aid her, Willem embraced her.  
  
“Well, I guess you are getting used to my body,” he chuckled.  
  
“D-Don’t get the wrong idea!” with her face even redder.  
  
He laughed and Liz thought his laugh had a beautiful ring. She would have loved to hear him laugh more.


	5. Chapter 5

When Willem woke up on that day as usual: with a smile on his face knowing that, in a few minutes, he would be seeing the beautiful face of his lady-in-waiting. The least thing that could come up to his mind was that it wasn’t going to be a good day entirely. First, he had breakfast with Liz. He was glad that she was eating more and with gusto. He smiled every time she did; and he chuckled every time she smiled after having a delicious bite. He even laughed out loud when she told him a funny story her parents used to tell her about their first date.  
  
The Prime Minister entered the room and froze up. It was the first time he had seen his nephew bursting out laughing heartily. Not for the first time will Conrad think that she could easily trail a path to his nephew’s heart.  
  
“Ahem!” Conrad cleared his throat to make his presence acknowledged.  
  
They both looked at him in surprise.  
  
“Prime Minister!” Liz exclaimed a little flustered.  
  
She got up and separated herself from the table. Somehow, she considered it wasn’t appropriate to be sitting at the table with the heir prince. Reading her actions, Willem stood up and he went to her side and looked at his uncle with an annoyance’s gaze.  
  
“What is it, Uncle?” he asked. “I still have half hour before starting to work.”  
“Your father sent a letter. He’s heard something disturbing that I need to discuss with you before your history lesson.”  
“Urgh!”  
  
Willem rolled his eyes, which upset the Prime Minister.  
  
“Can’t I at least finish my breakfast in peace?” he asked his uncle.  
“I need you in my office right away.”  
  
The prince sighed in frustration. He put his hands on Liz’s shoulders, which made the girl blush, and whispered in her ear that she could have the day off since he would be busy the entire day. Somehow he felt like kissing her on the cheek, but he restrained himself. He left his room with his uncle.  
  
“Why did you even come?” grunted Willem with his arms crossed and following his uncle behind. “Why didn’t you send a servant?”  
“Because I know you. You would have pretended you didn’t get the message and you would have tried to bail out.”  
  
The prince grunted again. The Prime Minister knew him so well!  
  
“Where are we going now?”  
“To fetch your brothers as well.”  
“Didn’t you say that my brothers were more disciplined than me? Why would you go out your way…?”  
“Is it wrong that I want to spend at least a day with my nephews?”  
  
Willem understood. His uncle had loved the three of them and it had been a while since they had spent a little bit of time together. After fetching Lacan, they moved to Felix’s room. They caught him just in time when he was closing the door behind him.  
  
“Felix!” called the Prime Minister.  
“Uncle!”  
  
The young prince looked surprised to see his uncle and brothers, he clutched to his chest the present he had in his hands.  
  
“What’s that, little brother?”  
  
Lacan took the present from his brother’s grasp.  
  
“Give it back!”  
“What’s this? ‘To Liz, hoping you find it very interesting’,” Lacan read the card.  
“I said to give it back!” he exclaimed finally taking the present from Lacan’s hands.  
“Why are you giving Liz a present?” asked Willem.  
“No reason. She just told me that she would like a copy of this book and I happened to find one,” answered Felix.  
  
Willem could see that the young prince blushed intensely.   
  
“It seems that you two share the love for books.”  
“Love for books? What love for books?” asked Willem.  
  
Due to many of the things that she had to do with Willem normally involved food, she usually didn’t bring the books she read. So Willem hadn’t discovered yet that she was a bookworm.  
  
“Didn’t you know? Liz adores reading. She’s such a bookworm just like our little brother,” he mocked Felix and ruffled his hair.  
“What?”  
“Enough!” exclaimed the Prime Minister. “We’re supposed to have a meeting now! Let’s move on to more important matters.”  


* * *

  
After explaining to them that his father had heard rumors of a conspiracy against the royal family and that they needed to be extra careful with everything, even doubling the guards to check on their meals. Willem kept sulking during the meeting and he barely said something to any member of his family.  
  
“Willem, did you hear what I just said?”  
“Yes, Uncle…”  
“I hope you have,” Conrad said not believing him entirely.  
  
He looked at his three nephews and sighed. They all seemed in their own worlds.  
  
“Very well, we shall pass to the History lesson,” he sighed again and stood to get out of the office with his nephews following him.  
  
The Prime Minister was walking with his nephews and giving them a lecture on the history of their kingdoms. Normally each of them would learn these kind of stuff with their history professor. However, their uncle normally taught them history when the history of their kingdom involved the marriage of members of their family with a royalty member of another kingdom. This made it more personal, according to the Prime Minister.  
  
The princes were following him at a dully pace. When they were passing one of the big stairs they heard giggles at the upper floor. The next thing they saw was Liz sliding down the banister with another boy following her behind. When she reached the bottom, she flawlessly jumped and landed on her feet. However, the young man had been sliding so close that she didn’t have time to move aside and he fell over her. This made laugh both of them.  
  
Willem was astounded. It was the first time he had heard her laugh from the bottom of her heart since the time they had spent at the picnic. There was something musical in her laughter.  
  
“Ahem!”  
  
They both heard the Prime Minister clearing his throat. They stopped their laughter. Rapidly, they got up and they tried to compose themselves at the sight of the four most important members in the Twilight Kingdom.  
  
“We’re so sorry, My Lord,” said the young man.  
“Who are you?” asked Conrad.  
“Oh, I’m Guy, Sire. My father is Major Brighton,” he explained scratching the back of his head and turning his cheeks red.  
  
Liz was holding her giggle at Guy’s sudden shyness, but it was very difficult and she tried to hide her face.  
  
“And you are Willem’s lady-in-waiting, is that a correct?”  
“Yes, Sire. My name is Liz.”  
  
When she lifted her head, she found out that Willem was looking at her in a rather furious way. She tried to figure out what that meant.  
  
“I see… Well, I don’t know if my nephew or anyone has told you before, but it isn’t well seen that a lady, or anyone for that matter,” he looked at Guy, “slides down the stair.”  
“I’m sorry, Sire,” she apologized.  
“We’re sorry, My Lord. We won’t do that again,” Guy commented.  
“Good. Then off you go,” suggested Conrad.  
  
With a smile of complicity, Guy and Liz turned around and left the foyer, running toward the east garden. When he turned to see them running away, Conrad could see she was like a wind fairy that carried with her some sort of happy scent in the air.  
  
With the corner of his eye, he could see his three nephews following her with their eyes and, to his alarm, neither of them looked happy. He didn’t want to leave this to either doubt or uncertainty, so he asked his nephews what was wrong. To his shock, the three of them replied that it was nothing, but he could see they were all sulking, especially Willem.  
  
After his uncle dismissed them, Lacan and Felix left the room, but Willem remained inside his uncle’s office and he proposed something to him.  
  
“What did you say?!”  
  
The Prime Minister had gone berserk after hearing his nephew proposal.  
  
“I knew you didn’t listen to anything I said!” Conrad shouted.  
“I did, Uncle!” he retorted, “But I think this is a good idea.”  
“How in the world neglecting your responsibilities and following your lady-in-waiting is supposed to be a good idea?”  
“Well, for starters I would stop having a routine which would make difficult to be an easy target. Isn’t that right, Vain?”  
  
The guardian stepped out of the shadows.  
  
“Indeed it would help that the prince didn’t have a routine. Routines make it easier for the enemies to predict their targets’ movements.”  
“Thank you, Vain.”  
“However, I do not believe that avoiding a specific routine implies to avoid your responsibilities, My Prince.”  
“I wouldn’t avoid them; I would just postpone them.”  
“You’re procrastinating, Willem,” sentenced his uncle severely. “I recall telling you that if I find that girl a problem…”  
“Uncle, please… I-I…”  
“You what?”  
“I’m just worried for her.”  
“About what?” he asked his nephew, although he had a pretty good idea of what was Willem’s concern.  
  
The prince opened and closed his mouth several times before he slouched on the chair in his uncle’s office. Conrad rolled his eyes at his sulking posture.  
  
“Fine! I’ll allow it!” said the Prime Minister.  
“You will?!” asked Willem and Vain at the same time.  
“Only for three days, Willem, not a week as you wanted,” he warned.  
  
In his excitement, Willem ran towards his uncle and hugged him.  
  
“Thank you, Uncle!”  
  
Conrad let himself to be hugged and patted his nephew’s back for a few minutes before he realized Vain was observing at the both of them. Clearing his throat, the Prime Minister separated from Willem and he went back to his desk.  
  
“Leave before I change my mind,” advised his uncle.  
  
The heir prince didn’t consider it twice. Once he left the office, Vain decided to stay a little longer.  
  
“You lost another battle, Sire,” Vain chuckled.  
“I know,” he said taking his hand to his temple and massaging it. “But I have to admit something…”  
“What is it?”  
“That girl is making emerge the best and the worst of my nephews. Especially in Willem’s case.”  
“Do you want her out?”  
“I don’t know yet…” he answered grabbing his head in both of his hands.  
“Would you like to talk to her, Sire?”  
“You think she would agree?”  
  
Vain shrugged his shoulders.  
  
“It is possible.”  
  
Conrad thought for a moment with his fingers entwined and his chin resting on them.  
  
“I won’t talk to her yet,” he finally said. “Not until something happens. I don’t want to be the trigger for some catastrophe, although I dread some sort of chaos is about to come. But let’s see what happens… maybe something, maybe nothing. We’ll act in accordance to it. Therefore, I will need for you to tell me anything that happens with her as well.”  
“Very well, Sire.”  
  
Vain bowed his head and got back to work.

* * *

  
  
Remembering he had told her that she could have a day off of her duties. Willem went to her room to check if she was there. He found Amelia in the hallway.  
  
“Have you seen Liz?”  
“No, Your Highness,” she answered. “But I know she likes to go to the library or to the gardens to read.”  
  
Again with the books, thought the prince. He tried not to let it show that it bothered him, but Amelia was really cunning in reading people’s expressions.  
  
“Is something wrong?”  
“Nothing at all. Do you have any idea or hint where she might actually be?”  
  
The girl seemed to think for a moment.  
  
“Well, it just… when she’s got a day off, she seems to forget her normal routine… She’s usually at the stables at this hour getting ready for her horse riding lesson, but I heard she told General Smith that she would not be attending to that today. If I had to guess, I would say she’s probably in the northern garden.”  
“Thank you.”  
  
And he ran out to the garden.  
  
Just as Amelia mentioned she was there having an impromptu picnic with his brothers. And the scene was like a stab in his heart. Lacan was sitting there next to her, very close, getting a few pastries on his mouth. After a bite, he was asking her to try it as well and he practically was feeding her. The girl seemed to be a little uncomfortable by his actions, but not wanting to offend the second prince, she gave a little bite. Then, Felix would call her attention to something in the page they were reading. To Willem’s dismay his youngest brother’s face was way too close to Liz’s.  
  
Willem closed his hands in a tight fist. He wanted to go over there and make a scene. He wanted to punch his brothers away from her and to tell them to piss off. He wanted to grab her and embrace her and kiss all her body, to mark her and to make sure his brothers watched so they would know that she belonged to him.  
  
Wait. Did she?  
  
It was true they had gotten closer since he had given her the choice to stay in the castle rather than commanding her to stay in. However, their relationship hadn’t changed much. She still allowed him to take a nap next to her from time to time, but that was it. Willem hadn’t done anything to show her that he wanted her for him, and only him.  
  
But he was going to.  
  
Stepping backwards he decided to put a plan into action. The first idea popped into his head and he smiled at it.


	6. Chapter 6

She had made sure with Yukiya that the breakfast was ready. She had had a lovely day the previous day and she decided to thank him with a special breakfast. When she went to his room to let the other servants enter with the food to his chambers, she found out something out of the ordinary. She knocked on the door but there was no answer. He normally would respond with an “Enter” word and the first thing she would always see was Willem putting his cloak on top of his robes.  
  
This time, however, there was no answer, so she decided to get a peek inside. She walked in and she didn’t see him. She asked the maids to enter and leave the food on the table while she went to what she knew was his bedchamber. Liz was amazed to see him in bed with his face under the covers.  
  
“Willem!” she exclaimed a little alarmed. “Are you ill? Do you want me to call a doctor?”  
  
For all answer, Willem just rolled up still with his eyes closed and put his pillow on his ear.  
  
“Leave him, Miss,” called out a maid named Marie entering with the food trays.  
“What do you mean with ‘Leave him’?” asked a little confused getting out of the room to see Marie.  
“I believe this is one of his days off,” she explained to her putting fresh fruits in a bowl that was placed at the centre of the table. “He’s not to wake up until he feels like it.”  
“But he always wakes up early!”  
“Yes, but he does it so he can grab a bite before heading to his office, since the Prime Minister insists that he needs to be an early bird. He wakes up early, but he really likes to sleep,” she smiled.  
“Oh, I had no idea!” she said looking at the bulk the prince looked like from the distance.  
“You may stay here until he wakes up,” she said. “The trays will keep the food warm for a while.”  
  
Marie gave a little bow as courtesy and left the room. Liz was left alone.  
  
She returned to his bedchamber. The girl looked at him again and then she stood near his bed. Willem had his back turned from her. She reached to caress his hair.  
  
“Willem?” she called softly.  
  
Still there was no answer. She sighed and was turning to leave when a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her. She fell on the bed and Willem quickly covered both of them with the sheets.  
  
“Morning,” he greeted her.  
“You’re awake!”  
“Barely,” he said in a hoarse.  
  
His face was so close to hers that they were inches from a kiss. She locked her gaze with his and she blushed. Willem was looking at her as if she were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. This made her self-conscious, her heartbeat was pounding really fast and she blushed deeply. She averted his gaze in an attempt to calm her heart.  
  
Willem chuckled at this. He gently caressed the side of her face with a finger and with that finger made her to stare at him. He was leaning on her, their lips barely touching each other…  
  
There was a knock on the door.  
  
In her haste to answer the call, she pulled herself away from the prince and fell from the bed. She gave a little surprised cry and the door opened a little.  
  
It was Marie. She had realized that neither Liz nor the prince was at the table, so she knocked on his bedchamber’s door. However, she remained behind the door, not daring to even peek inside.  
  
“Yeah?” asked the prince again with his hoarse voice.  
“Pardon to interrupt, Sire, is Miss Liz in there?” she asked innocently.  
“I think she’s in the washing room,” he answered.  
“Oh, then could you tell her that I brought the strawberry cake she ordered as well? And she should eat it as soon as possible,” indicated the maid.  
“Yes, I shall tell her. Thank you.”  
“You’re welcome, Sire,”  
  
When he heard the maid leave, he leaned over the edge of his bed. Liz was still on the ground rubbing the back of her head.  
  
“Are you all right?”  
“I’m fine!”  
  
She got up and not looking at Willem she went to the door.  
  
“Remember you’ve got to keep me company for breakfast,” he reminded her.  
  
She stopped in her tracks and turned to look at him. He was starting to get to know her. He knew that she had felt so flustered that she was thinking on leaving the room. Willem was gazing at her in a playful manner. With a frustrating sigh, nodded in a way that assured the prince she was going to have breakfast with him. She left the room to allow the prince to change.  
  
  
“So what would you like to do today?” asked Willem giving a last bite to his breakfast.  
“Umm…”  
  
Liz bit her lower lip. She was a bit in conflict with herself. It’s not that the she didn’t enjoy his company. It’s just that she’d gotten used to her routine and, she had to admit it, Willem was only part of that routine for the meals. The rest of her time she distributed it with her friends and her reading.  
  
“Well… you can do whatever you want, Willem, I…”  
“You… what?”  
“I…”  
  
It was hard for her to reject him. He was gazing at her in a curious manner. She could tell that he was neither upset nor teasing her. He leaned on his chair and grabbed her hand.  
  
“It’s okay, tell me. You can trust me.”  
“It’s just… I’ve just got my own routine and…”  
“Maybe I can come with you. To see what you do,” he suggested.  
“No!”  
  
Willem backed away in surprise.  
  
“I mean, you can’t… I mean…”  
“Why?” his tone starting to sound like an inquiry and he even narrowed his eyes.  
“It’s just… I’ve got my friends… and they don’t hang out normally with royalty,” she explained. “They would feel uncomfortable if I brought you with me.”  
  
Willem stared at her scornfully.  
  
“Really?”  
“Yes. Look. Why don’t you try to do something else during the day and I’ll see you at lunch and maybe we can come up with something for tomorrow?” she suggested.  
“No.”  
“What?”  
“I said no.”  
“Wh…?”  
“You’re my lady-in-waiting and part of your many duties is to keep me company. Now, as a favour to you, I was giving you the opportunity of following your routine so not to abruptly change your plans.”  
  
He crossed his legs and entwined his fingers in front of his chest, resting his elbows on the chair’s armrests. He gave the impression of applying his full authority as a royal member.  
  
“But if you don’t want me to get involved in your routine, that’s fine by me. We’ll do whatever I want then. Including staying in my chambers all day long.”  
  
A trap. She had fallen in his trap. If she refused him again, he would lock her up in his room; and if she took him with him, he would make her friends uncomfortable. She got up and walked to the balcony, but she didn’t step it out, as she normally would do, to stare at the city.  
  
Willem sighed in exasperation.  
  
“Look, I don’t want…” he rubbed the side of his head and walking towards her.  
  
Then he put his hands on her shoulders. Liz turned her head to the side and then up to gaze at Willem.  
  
“I just want to spend my free time with you,” he said.  
“Why?”  
  
Willem looked at her. He wanted to tell her, but he wasn’t prepared yet. He imagined that she wasn’t ready to listen to it either.  
  
“I just want to get to know you. Is that wrong?”  
“Not really…”  
“Let’s make a deal. I’ll follow you on your routine, but I shan’t interfere.”  
“But…”  
“That’s my final offer.”  
  
She thought for a moment.  
  
“All right.”  
  


* * *

  
Faithful to his word, Willem followed her around without interfering. He discovered that indeed she was a bookworm. She had already made friends with the librarian, Sigurd, who always suggested new material for her to read. At first, the librarian had felt a little awkward to see the heir prince in the library. He knew Willem liked to read, but he preferred to do it in his reading room. However, he had seen the prince had no interest in him or the books and seemed to be studying something far more pleasing.  
  
Willem then followed Liz to her little brunch with his brothers. They were both surprised to see him. Not wanting to give his uncle away, Willem told them that he had changed a little his routine, which wasn’t technically a lie.  
  
“Are you enjoying the book?” asked Felix to Liz.  
“I’m finding it very interesting,” she said eating a scone and with a smile on her face. “I thank you for getting me a copy.”  
“My pleasure,” Felix.  
“Do you want more rose tea, Liz?” asked Lacan.  
“Yes, please,” she said handing him her cup.  
  
Willem was sipping his tea seeing how Lacan blushed when his fingers caressed Liz’s the moment he was taking the cup from her and also when returning it. He narrowed his eyes when he saw Felix smiling at Liz’s comment on a passage from the book. He seemed to be awed by her way of learning the book’s content. When Felix told her he could teach her the old dragonkin’s language, she got so excited that she hugged him, which made Willem’s blood boil.  
  
Once more, he had the urge to scream to them to stay away from her, but again, he had to remain as a silent companion, trying to be true to his word.  
  
After Felix and Lacan and Felix left, she started to read one of the books she had taken from the library. She was so focused on her reading, that she was oblivious of Willem staring at her with intensity. She looked so beautiful with her braid on one shoulder, her head tilting a little to the side and her legs crossed.  
  
The feeling inside the prince intensified at that sight. He was so absorbed staring at her that when he tried to put his cup on its plate again, he missed it. The cup crashed onto the ground and broke in pieces. The sound made her jump and when she saw the broken cup, she reached to pick it up immediately.  
  
“Leave it!” warned Willem grabbing her before she kneeled. “Let someone else take care of it.”  
“But…”  
“See?”  
  
She followed his gaze and surely she saw a butler and a maid running towards them. Still holding her hand, he stood up and made her to stand too. He ordered to clean everything for them and led her by the hand back to the castle.  
  
“Where do we go now?” asked the prince.  
  
She smiled at him and, not letting his hand go, she led him to the music room. She greeted Joel, the maestro hired to compose new pieces for upcoming balls.  
  
“Hello, Joel!”  
“Hi, Liz,” greeted the musician.  
  
He had some score sheets in his hands.  
  
“Are you ready for your lesson?”  
  
Lesson? What lesson? Thought the prince, but he didn’t ask it to her.  
  
“Your Highness!” exclaimed Joel realizing Willem was there and quite amazed to see the heir prince.  
“Hello, Maestro! How do you do?” greeted Willem with a little bow acknowledging the musical genius.  
“I’m astounded to find you here,” he said too honestly.  
“He’s only coming to observe, if you don’t mind.”  
“Not at all. Shall we begin?”  
  
Placing the score sheets on the piano, the girl sat in front of the keyboard and started playing. Joel kept making a few corrections, but essentially she was playing well. It was a simple sonatina, but she was doing quite well. Somehow, Willem pictured Liz playing in the future and suddenly Joel’s figure was replaced with a little boy looking a lot like him when he was a boy, their son…  
  
“You still don’t master it,” commented Joel after she finished.  
“Hey, that’s mean! I’m doing my best.”  
“Yes, I can tell,” he said with a smile. “That’s what I admire about you: You don’t give up so easily. Isn’t that right, Your Highness?”  
“Yes, you’re right, Maestro.”  
“I remember that you were very good too, Sire,” commented Joel.  
“You play too, Willem?”  
“I haven’t played in a long time,” he said a little melancholic.  
“Why not?”  
“I… I haven’t played since my mother died.”  
  
For the first time, Willem looked sad reminiscing the days when the Queen was still alive. Her chest tightened at the sight of him.  
  
“I need to go to the rest room. Excuse me,” said the prince.  
  
He left the room. He felt his eyes burning with the tears forming in them. He tried to hold them, but he was finding it difficult.  
  
“Willem!”  
  
He stopped in his tracks when he heard her voice. She ran towards him and, as she got nearer, she slowed down and the she surrounded his figure so she could be in front of him. Her heart clenched at the sight of his sad face. She grabbed his hands in hers and kissed them. Then she gently led him back to his bedroom.  
  
Once there, she guided him to the sofa, sat next to him and put a hand on his cheek. With that gentle caress, the silent tears started to leak from his eyes. Before he knew it, Willem was holding her in a tight embrace his head resting on her lap. She ran her fingers in his hair in a soothing way.


	7. Chapter 7

“I was never allowed to cry in front of anybody,” he commented during lunch time.  
“Why not?”  
“Father thought it to be a weak act,” he sighed. “Since I was the heir prince, I had to look strong.”  
“Only you?”  
“Yes. Lacan didn’t cry knowing my father’s thoughts on the matter and he wanted to give him a good impression, but Felix was the youngest, so he was allowed to do so,” he explained.  
“You cried for your mother all alone?”  
“No, I couldn’t, because the servants kept entering my room.”  
  
He sighed reminiscing of those days.  
  
“I reached the conclusion that the best way to stop mourning my mother, I would have to forget her. I never spoke of her to any member of my family.”  
“Not even your brothers.”  
“Like I said, Lacan wanted to follow my example, though I suspect that he did cry at first in his room, and Felix is the youngest. I just had to avoid him so I wouldn’t have to answer to his constant questions.”  
“I see…”  
  
Liz was now playing with her food. Willem didn’t like to see her doing that. She knew she had lost her appetite when she heard his story and he was grateful she felt that way for him, but he really hated not seeing her eating well.  
  
“Let’s change the subject, shall we? Where do you go after our lunch?”  
“You still want to keep following me?”  
“Yes.”  
“Shouldn’t it be more advisable that you remain here the rest of the afternoon? You know… resting?”  
“No, thank you.”  
  
She sighed. He was being the proud prince again.  
  
“I normally go to my riding lesson,” she said.  
  
Though Willem had asked to be present in every horse riding lesson, he had found out that General Smith and Captain Vincent were really careful when teaching Liz, therefore he had stopped coming to some of the lessons. He was surprised by her progress and he was amazed to see that Liz had bonded with that beautiful silver horse. She had loved the horse from the start since it reminded her to a unicorn.  
  
Willem asked for his black horse too and he decided to take Liz for a ride around the castle. Feeling more confident, Liz made the horse go faster and soon enough she was galloping through the forest inside the castle. Willem followed her very close by, fearing the worst.  
  
“Liz, slow down!”  
  
But it seemed like she didn’t hear him. Soon they arrived to a hilltop and Liz pulled the reins to stop the horse. Willem caught up with her and saw that she had dismounted her horse and was walking towards the edge of the hilltop.  
  
She was looking at the city. The wind was blowing and her hair was naturally floating in the wind. Willem suddenly had the idea she would just be lifted by the wind and would fly away. He dismounted and ran towards her. Once in his reach, he embraced her from behind.  
  
“Willem?”  
  
He was acting quite strange, but after learning one of his deepest and darkest memories, she didn’t say anything else.

* * *

  
They returned to the palace after a whole afternoon of riding. Once inside, Willem grinned. It was time to put his other plan into action.  
  
“That was great,” he said entering the palace and walking down the hallways.  
“Yeah, it was.”  
“I need a bath,” he commented. “Prepare me one, would you?”  
“What?!”  
“What?”  
“You want me to prepare you a bath?”  
“You’re my lady-in-waiting,” he replied. “You’ve got to do what I ask you to do.”  
“B-But…”  
“Do it,” he whispered in her ear.  
  
Liz asked Amelia to help her. She told her that, in fact, it was her job to make sure the prince’s bath was always ready, but the prince had asked to hold up that responsibility. Although it seemed that he was now deciding to put that in her plate now.  
  
His bathroom was enormous. He had a bathtub that looked more like a pool than a tub. Amelia told her that it was part of her duties to wash the prince’s hair and, probably part of his body, which made her blush at what she was implying. She had barely changed into some clothes that she wouldn’t mind to get wet.  
  
Willem entered the bathroom and she turned to look at him. He was wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. He smiled in a tantalizing manner when she blushed intensely.  
  
“What are you wearing?” he asked teasingly.  
“What are you wearing?!” she asked alarmed.  
“What you’re supposed to wear when you’re going to take a bath,” he said as if the answer was very obvious.  
  
He walked towards the bathtub and he dipped into its waters. A second later, he rose. Liz eyes opened and she was with her mouth opened when she saw water running down his chest. His perfect, well-shaped chest. She averted her gaze in shame.  
  
“Liz?” Willem called.  
“Y-Yes?”  
“Help me with my hair.”  
  
She came closer to the edge of his bathtub and kneeled. He had gotten closer to her as well and he put his head on her lap. Liz grabbed his whole hair and started to wash it. She was amazed how shinning and blacker it looked when it was wet. When she massaged his skull, he looked at her and locked his gaze with hers. She felt drawn to lean on him and kiss his lips. Just when she was about to, she regained her senses and then she backed away.  
  
“I-I think I should bring more soap,” she said.  
  
Before she could get up, Willem did the exact same thing that he did when he was in bed. He grabbed her arm and pulled her, though this time she fell in the water instead of a soft mattress. She opened her eyes and saw that Willem had dipped in along with her and got his face close to hers. He looked like a merman with his long hair floating in the water. To Willem, she looked so much like a mermaid as well. He felt drawn to her beauty and he tried to put his arm around her waist, but she was faster than him and wiggled herself out of his arms reach.  
  
Gasping for air, her head popped out of the water and then she got up trying to wipe the water from her face. She could feel the water was almost at her chest-level, a little lower. Willem got up as well, for him, the water was at waist-level. She was going to yell at him, but then she realized that her clothes actually were transparent when they got wet. She tried to cover her breasts. However, Willem took her by the hands and led her back into the water.  
  
Still, in an attempt to cover herself, an arm was still across her breast. The other hand Willem took it into his and entwined his fingers with hers. Liz saw their hands together and suddenly something fit in. She finally understood Willem’s actions. Gazing at each other, Willem embraced her with his other hand. Slowly their faces were drawn towards each other and they closed their eyes.  
  
Their lips found each other and, it felt so natural, that their actions were synchronized. Willem embraced her more tightly and deepened the kiss.  
  
With a soft sound their lips parted. They opened their eyes and gazed into each other again. They were both panting. Then Liz gulped and she separated from Willem in shock.  
  
He tried to stop her, but just like a mermaid, she moved very fluently in the water and then she slipped through his fingers. She rapidly took a towel and wrapped herself with it. She left his room and headed for hers. Once there she slammed the door shut with her back against it. She slid down and sat trying to block the door with her body.  
  
What had happened? She had kissed the prince! And she had liked it!  
  
Liz was trembling but it wasn’t due to her wet clothes and the cold, it was because she had found herself entranced by Willem’s beauty. Ever since the day they had met, Liz had thought he was the most beautiful man she had ever seen. However, once she learned he was a royal member, she had had her doubts because she had thought he was a spoiled brat. However, she had also started to enjoy the time they spent together.  
  
She trailed with her fingers her lips and she could still feel the warmth Willem's lips had left on hers. She closed her eyes and she still felt his body against hers. She panted every time she remembered how he had looked at her.  
  
Stop it! She scolded herself. She couldn’t fall in love with him. Not with the prince. The heir prince, no less. He was out of question. Tears started streaming down her cheeks and she sobbed. There was a pain in her heart when she tried to subdue that feeling. It hurt. It literally hurt in her chest. He was out of boundaries and she knew it. Her love for him was nothing but a fantasy. She hated him for that. He was playing with her and in a much more cruel way than his brother Lacan. At least, the second prince hadn’t tried anything and, even if he did, a possible relationship, even though it didn’t end up in marriage, was still possible due to his position that he wasn’t the future king.  
  
She kept sitting there for hours until she calmed herself down.

* * *

  
She left her room around midnight to get a snack. She had missed her dinner but, surprisingly, Willem hadn’t called for her. He must have understood that she’d been in shock with what happened between them. She turned a hallway and found herself in front of the royal captain.  
  
“Vincent!” she greeted.  
“Liz! What are you doing here at this hour?”  
“I fell asleep and skipped dinner…”  
  
Though it was the truth, she felt odd not to confide in Vincent what really happened.  
  
“Really? Well, actually I’m going to the kitchens to check if they also had some leftovers. I couldn’t have dinner due to an early appointment,” he said scratching his head.  
“So you too were thinking the same,” she said giggling.  
“Maybe we can sneak in together. And maybe we could steal some of Randy’s favourite cookies for dessert?” he suggested with a wink of complicity.  
  
She giggled again at the idea of Randy waking up with half of his cookies eaten.  
  
“Is that Liz’s laughter that I hear?” asked a voice from the shadows.  
  
A second later, stepping from them, Prince Lacan showed up with a grin on his face.  
  
“Your Highness!” exclaimed both Vincent and Liz in unison.  
“Perfect synchronization,” he mocked.  
“Is there something I could do for you, Sire?” asked Liz.  
“I thought we were already friends,” he said pretending to be sad at her formal speech.  
“I’m…”  
“It’s all right,” he said waving his hand to dismiss the matter and winking at her.  
“You’re mocking me,” she sighed.  
“When have I ever mocked you?” he asked pretending to be indignant at her comment.  
  
Vincent laughed when she repressed herself from replying that and only rolled her eyes. Lacan laughed too when her cheeks puffed.  
  
“Where are you heading?”  
“Umm…”  
  
The girl and the captain exchanged glances. They, somehow, didn’t know what to do. They wanted to enjoy their dinner without caring for their manners, but at the same time they didn’t want to discard the prince away.  
  
Unknown to them, Lacan knew how they felt. However, he wasn’t going to let this opportunity to slip by. Liz was rarely alone. It’s not that she was entirely alone at this moment, since the captain was with her, but Vincent was the least of his worries. It was his brothers who, he thought, were his real competition.  
  
“Well, as a matter of fact we were going to the kitchens, Your Highness,” commented Vincent.  
“The kitchens? At this hour?”  
“Yes, we were going to have a midnight snack,” said Liz.  
“Er… Would you like to join us?” asked Vincent.  
“Sure!”  
  
When they arrived at the kitchens, they found them empty. The staff must have finished early.  
  
“Oh, drags!” exclaimed Vincent seeing that they had put away everything.  
“I imagine we’re not getting the midnight snack,” sighed Lacan.  
“Maybe we can cook something,” commented Liz going to the pantry and checking what was in there.  
“Can you cook?” asked both men.  
“Of course! I used to live alone before, remember?” she replied offended.  
“I guess you’re right,” said Vincent. “I can also cook certain things, so I can help you.”  
“I have never cooked before, but if I can be of any assistance…”  
“Sure, I would love both of you to help me,” she said.  
  
Liz found some ingredients to bake some croissants and cookies. Apparently, the other pantries were locked up. So she asked them to help with the dough for the croissants and the batter for the cookies. Half an hour later, a first batch of cookies was ready.  
  
“This is so fun,” said Lacan with a smile adding some milk to a new bowl.  
“Right?” she said whisking another bowl.  
“Liz, what do I do with these?” asked Vincent holding some of the dough they had already prepared.  
“Here,” she said putting down her bowl and went to him. “You do this,” she said and showed him how to add the final touch.  
  
Their hands touched each other and Vincent smiled at her. She blushed at this. At that moment, a soldier came over and told the captain that he was being called by General Smith.  
  
“I guess I won’t eat your cookies,” Vincent lamented.  
  
Taking out a napkin and she put all the cookies, except for two, in the middle of it and then wrapped them. She asked the captain to take them so he wouldn’t keep his stomach empty.  
  
“What about you?” Vincent asked a little concern for her.  
“I’ll be fine. I’ll bake some more,” she said.  
“Are sure?”  
“Yes. Now, go!” she said giving him a little nudge.  
  
She stared at the door where he had left. She knew he wanted to stay, but his duties came first.  
  
“Could you help me over here, Liz?” asked the prince clearing his throat.  
“Of course, Sire,” she said coming towards him.  
  
She was surprised when Lacan put a little of the mix on the tip of her nose.  
  
“Wha…?”  
“I told you to call me Lacan,” he said with a pout.  
“That’s not fair!”  
  
She grabbed a handful of flour and threw it at the prince. He backed away to avoid being hit with it, but he wasn’t fast enough.  
  
“Now, you’ve done it!” he said in a teasing tone.  
  
Then he grabbed some eggs and he smashed them on her head. In no time, they started a food fight chasing each other. Their laughters were audible in the entire kitchen. When Lacan was chasing her with some flour, she tripped. Seeing this, Lacan tried to avoid to collide with her, but he was too late and he lost balance. He ended up falling on top of her. He had put his hands on the floor, so the impact wasn’t so hard on her.  
  
“Lacan, are you okay?”  
“I should be asking that to you, are you h…?” he said raising his body a little.  
  
He stopped himself. He was way too close to Liz’s face. She wasn’t unaware of this and she couldn’t help to blush. This made Lacan believe she looked even cuter, if possible.  
  
“Lacan…?”  
  
He started leaning over her. Their noses almost touched each other’s…  
  
The doors swung open with a bang. They both looked at the door and what they saw stopped their hearts. Willem was standing on the threshold. He was panting like he had been running. His eyes were wide in shock at seeing his brother with Liz.  
  
He was going to dive for his brother’s throat, but before he could reach him, two people showed up, out of nowhere, and put themselves between Lacan and Willem. One of them was Vain, Liz had crossed paths with him in some occasions; but the other one was someone Liz hadn’t seen before. It was a man with fair white skin, silver hair, golden eyes and scar in the shape of a cross on his left cheek. The stranger and Vain were in a position that indicated that they were about to attack each other but they controlled themselves before doing so. They also had their guard up to resume their attack any moment.  
  
“Vain!” called Willem.  
“Hugo!” said Lacan standing up.  
  
Liz got on her feet too, glancing at all of them and wondering what was going on.  
  
“What’s happening?” she asked when the silence became deafening.  
“Willem…” started to say Lacan.  
“Shut up, Lacan!” and then he addressed to his guard, “Vain, stand down.”  
“I cannot, Sire,” he said. “If a fight between brothers is about to break, then let Hugo and I deal with it.”  
  
He understood what Vain meant. He preferred to focus his attention in someone else then.  
  
“Liz, come here.”  
  
It wasn’t a request.  
  
The girl jumped up at the tone of his voice.  
  
“Willem…” called Lacan again.  
“I said to shut up!” he repeated and then he addressed to the girl again, “Liz, come here _now_!”  
  
She obeyed. Lacan tried to stop her, but the moment he moved, Willem also made a movement and Vain a Hugo took a step towards each other. Liz now understood. Hugo was Lacan’s shadow/bodyguard just as Vain was Willem’s. Because Willem had tried to attack his brother, Hugo was compelled to defend Lacan, even from a member of his family, which meant that he would have to attack Willem at some point. On the other hand, knowing that Hugo could attack his master, Vain tried to defend Willem. Therefore, if the pair of royal brothers wanted to attack each other, the guards would have to do the fight they were not allowed to have.  
  
Liz thought that seemed to be quite unfair for Vain and Hugo. The moment he was in Willem’s reach, the heir prince embraced her in a protective way and glared at his brother. He was going to say something to Lacan, but he controlled himself when he heard her voice.  
  
“Willem?” she murmured.  
  
He glanced at her. Her eyes were supplicant. She was asking to stop Vain and Hugo. Willem understood that whatever he said, it would only lead to a fight between their shadows. He let out a heavy sigh and still with his arm around her shoulders, Willem left the kitchen and he was pleased to see that Lacan wasn’t following them. Maybe he didn’t want to cause a battle between the Peers brothers either.  
  
Liz let Willem to lead her back to his room. As soon as she crossed his door, he slammed it shut. His hand never left the door and he got very close to Liz’s face.  
  
“Tell me what happened,” demanded the prince.  
“What do you mean?”  
  
He then put his face close to hers. She thought that he was going to kiss her so she shut her eyes, but then she heard him sniffing and when she opened one eye to peek what he was doing, she realized his nose was now quite close to her neck.  
  
“You smell like him,” he sentenced pulling away from her.  
“What?”  
“Dragonkins have got a really keen nose,” he explained to her. “And you smell like him.”  
“Of course I do! We tripped and he fell over me! Besides, we both must smell like butter.”  
“Is that all?”  
“That’s all!”  
  
He grunted.  
  
“I don’t want you to get near Lacan or Captain Vincent ever again,” he declared.  
“What? Why?”  
“Because you’re too nice to them! You treat them in a way that they can easily believe they’ve got a chance with you,”  
“What are you talking about?” she asked. She sincerely didn’t understand what he was saying.  
“Just don’t treat them so kindly!”  
“I thought you said that you liked how I treated you the first time,” she said a little puzzled.  
  
This pained him. To him what she said meant that he was no different from any other men. He wasn’t especial in her eyes.  
  
“I did,” he recognized.  
“Then why? Why can’t I treat Lacan or Felix or Vincent like any other people?”  
“Because I don’t want you to get too close to them!” he angrily exclaimed.  
“What?!” she asked surprised by this. “Why?”  
“Because I want you to myself!”  
  
Then he kissed her. He hungrily kissed her. He wrapped her in his arms so she wouldn’t escape from him. But he didn’t need to. Not listening to her own thoughts, Liz put her arms around his waist and entwined her hands in his hair. She lost herself in that kiss and returned it. She opened her mouth to give him further access. He deepened the kiss and before their lips parted he bit her lower lip in a seductive manner.  
  
Pulling away a little from her, they gazed into each other’s eyes.  
  
“Liz…” he muttered, cupping her face in her hands.  
  
He planted soft kisses in her cheeks, her forehead and on the tip of her nose.  
  
“I love you,” he whispered before kissing her again.  
  
Her heart was racing so fast, she thought she would get a heart attack at any minute due to how rapid her heartbeats were. Her prince, her beloved prince, loved her the way she loved him. It was a dream come true. He gazed at her face and then with a finger started to trail her features, like he was trying to record them in his memory.  
  
“You’re so beautiful,” he declared.  
  
She blushed at this.  
  
“Willem…”  
  
That’s the only thing she could say before he sealed her lips with another kiss. Then kissing her cheek and then her neck, he hugged her and he said in her ear.  
  
“Not now… If you’re going to reject me, then I don’t want to know it now.”  
  
She sighed.  
  
“I think I also feel the same, Willem,” she finally said hugging him too.  
  
He pulled away his head and half his body from her with an incredulous look in his eyes.  
  
“Are you serious?” he said.  
  
His voice carried a tone filled with hope and his eyes gleamed at the idea of her becoming his for eternity.  
  
She remained silent. She wanted to tell him she loved him, that he was the reason she had chosen to come to live in the castle. The reason she woke up every morning with a smile on her face, knowing that she would see him for breakfast and for every meal. That the first kiss they shared, had ignited the spark she had tried in several occasions to put out, but she had been unsuccessful.  
  
“But I think, I need a little more time to sort my feelings,” she said averting his gaze.  
  
She knew if she looked at him directly into his beautiful eyes, she would give herself to him and there would be no turning back. She separated completely from him. When she did, the prince felt a chill where her body had been. His heart sunk when he heard this.  
  
“Liz…”  
“Please, I’ll give you my answer soon,” she said before leaving.  
  
Willem stayed in the cold room wondering if the warmth she had brought with her would fill the room and his heart again.


	8. Chapter 8

She woke up very early in the morning. She wanted to spend the day out, so she changed and headed for one of the castle’s gardens. However, as soon as she got out of her room, Lacan was standing there. He seemed to be waiting for her.  
  
“Wha…?”  
  
He put a finger on her lips as a sign to keep her quiet. He then grabbed her hand and led her through some hallways. Then he opened a door and led her in.   
  
“What is this room?”  
  
It was quite dusty and filled with books and little antiques. There were all sorts of couches: a divan, a chaise lounge, two armchairs, a cabriole and a camelback. There was a tea set that looked like it hadn’t been used in years and a beautiful chandelier hung from the ceiling.   
  
“Where are we?” she asked amazed at the room.   
  
It seemed that if she cleaned it a little, this could easily become her favourite spot in the whole castle.  
  
“My mother’s secret room,” answered Lacan closing the door.  
“Your mother…?”  
“Yes, she called it ‘secret’ because she didn’t allow anybody except my father, brother and me to enter. There was also even a maid that was allowed to go in to dust off everything, but she died a couple of years ago. My father never allowed anybody to enter this room again after Mother’s death. The only one was that old lady. And I fear this room will never be used again at least for a few more generations.”  
  
Liz looked around with more detail while Lacan was talking. There were a few side tables next to each chair or couch and each table had two or three photographs with very beautiful frames. She saw one photo and she recognized Willem as a child being hugged by a beautiful woman that looked exactly like him but a little bit more feminine. In another picture there was Lacan as a child holding up a bird in his hands and her mom posing next to him, with her hands on his shoulders and a wide smile on her face. And there was another with a baby in her arms, that Liz, somehow, knew it was Felix.   
  
Her firstborn featured in many of the pictures. Many people would think that it was because Willem was her favourite, but Liz knew, she didn’t know how she could know but she did, that it had been her plan to fill her room with more pictures of her other two sons. She just didn’t have the opportunity.  
  
“Why did you bring me here, Lacan?”  
  
He came closer to her. He grabbed her by the shoulders and, slowly, trailed his hands down her arms and then held her hands. He gallantly leaned over her and kissed her. It was a soft kiss, but then she pushed him away.  
  
“I’m sorry, Lacan, I can’t…” she said.  
“You don’t like me?”  
“I do! But not like this…”   
“I see…”  
“I’m really sorry,” she said with her head low.  
  
He sighed. He knew her answer before he even kissed her, yet he still lingered to the hope that maybe she could feel the same he felt for her.  
  
“You like my brother, don’t you?”  
  
She didn’t answer. Instead she gulped and she silently gave a nod.  
  
“He’s really lucky… He’s always been. He got to be with Mother much longer than me or Felix; he’s loved by many people including our father and our uncle despite his behaviour, and now I can tell he’s getting another treasure in his hands…”  
  
He went down and sat on one of the many seats. She remained where she was, rooted to the spot where she had told Lacan she loved Willem.  
  
“But I haven’t told him how I feel…” she commented.  
“Why not?”  
“I don’t want to lift my hopes believing there’s a future between us, because there could be none.”  
“I see…”  
“And if I can’t be with Willem, I’m not sure if I can stay here in the castle.”  
  
She had been repressing the tears, but telling out loud the possibility of separating forever from Willem hurt even more. Lacan stood up, rounded his arms around her shoulders, hugging her from behind, and caressed her hair in a soothing way.  
  
“I understand how you feel, but I do hope that one day you see this place like your home as much as Willem’s, Felix’s or mine.”  
“Thank you,” she said.  
“I know you don’t want to hear this and, maybe I am being selfish by telling you this, but my offer will always remain. If things can’t go right between you and him, I hope you still remain in the palace. I won’t give up on you until you’re happily married with another man.”  
  
She gulped at the thought. She put a hand on one of his arms.  
  
“I’m sorry, Lacan,” she apologized again. “I don’t think that’s wise. You should try to find a woman more suitable.”  
“There’s no one more suitable but you!” he said scandalized by her statement and tightening his grip. “Please , stay here even if things don’t work out between you and him.”  
“I couldn’t Lacan. It would hurt to see him marrying with someone else…”  
  
Her voice broke at the thought. Tears rolled down her cheeks.  
  
“Please, I beg you!” he insisted.  
“I make no promises…” she mumbled.  
  
She grabbed his arms and forced him to let her go and, crying, she left the room.  
  


* * *

  
After an hour, Willem showed up in the garden where Liz was having a snack with Felix.   
  
“Where have you been?” he demanded.  
“I just needed…” she said a little taken aback.  
“Come with me.”  
  
Again, it was not a request.  
  
“Willem!” protested Felix seeing his brother treating Liz that way.  
“Stay out of this, Felix,” he said before turning his back on them and walking away.  
  
Felix was about to shout something to Willem, but then he felt her hand on his.  
  
“It’s okay,” she said patting his hand.  
  
She got up and followed the heir prince. Felix watched them go with a pained look.  
  
They shortly arrived at Willem’s office. Liz hadn’t seen it before, because it normally Willem occupied himself with papers his uncle gave to him. His room was filled with many paintings of the countryside and beaches. Liz imagined he needed visual images of the outside world to distract himself from time to time.  
  
“Did you meet with my brother in private?” he asked, though his question was more accusatory.  
“Yes.”  
  
He glanced at her. There was a certain determination.  
  
“Wasn’t I clear before about not being alone with any other men?”  
“No, you weren’t. Besides, they’re my friends.”  
“They’re not your friends!”  
“Yes, they are! It’s only me who can decide whether they are or not.”  
  
He panted. He was trying to keep his cool, but his jealousy didn’t allow him to do so. He came close to her.  
  
“I just…” he said putting one hand on her shoulder and the other hand on her cheek. “I can’t bear the idea of someone else seeing you with the same desire as me, to touch your skin or to even kiss you,” he said this last thing caressing her lower lip with his thumb.  
  
He leaned over and he kissed her softly at first. When she clutched her fist in his robes, he embraced her and deepened the kiss. Liz felt like a fire spreading through her entire body. It burned her, yet it was a pleasant sensation. When their lips parted, tears started to trail down her cheeks.  
  
“Willem, I… I still need to think some things, please…”  
  
Though a part of him told him that he shouldn’t care and that he should take her and make her his once and for all; there was another part that understood that she needed time to make sure she chose him with no doubts in her mind.  
  
“C-Can I ask you a favour?” she asked.  
“What is it?”  
“I want to visit my parents’ graves. Visiting them always helped me to clear my mind.”  
“Are you going alone?”  
“Please, this is important,” she begged.  
  
He understood. He kissed the back of both of her hands.  
  
“Very well, but I don’t want you to spend the night outside the castle; and I want you to come to me as soon as you return. Understood?”  
  
She nodded with a smile on her face. He kissed her on the forehead and wished her a safe trip.  
  
From his balcony, Willem saw her leave the castle. Just as he was watching her, there was a knock on his door.  
  
“Enter,” he said not bothering to look at the door.  
  
When the door opened, Willem took a peek at who had entered his chambers. It was Lacan. Willem gazed at him with an accusing glance. Despite getting the cold shoulder from his brother, Lacan went to the balcony to join him.  
  
“I had a little chat with Liz this morning,” he commented.  
“I know,” he said with his hands on the rail looking now at the sea of people where she had lost herself in.  
“Did she tell you what we discussed?”  
“She kept it in private,” he grunted.  
“Ah!”  
  
Then he clicked his tongue.  
  
“Well, you’ll be glad to know that actually I confessed to her…”  
“What?!” he turned around to see his brother face to face.  
“… And she rejected me,” finished Lacan with a sigh.  
“She did?”  
“Look. I just came to tell you that she loves you,” he said bitterly. “But I haven’t given up yet, Brother, and if you can’t make her happy…”  
“I can and I will!” he assured him.  
“I just came to tell you that despite my feelings, I won’t try anything that she clearly doesn’t want to. So stop taking your frustration out on her, okay?”  
“I’m not!”  
“Yes, you are! Felix told me how you treated her early and I’m not going to tolerate it! If you want a fight, I’ll give you one, but leave her out of any rage attack you’ve got. My only advice to you is that you should give her your trust.”  
  
The second prince started walking towards the door. He had his hand on the doorknob when Willem called him.  
  
“Lacan…”  
“Don’t say anything or I’ll regret giving you a valuable piece of advice.”  
  
Then he slammed the door behind him.   
  
With tears in his eyes, the second prince arrived in his room and, wiping them, he went to his personal desk and started to write a letter.  
  


* * *

  
She decided to take the silver horse, which she had named Leon. She put him a saddle and then she left the castle. She rode straight back to her parents’ tombs. She passed the town where she had grown and arrived at her old house. Once there, she kneeled before them and started to pray, hoping they would answer her prays with a sign.   
  
Nothing.  
  
She started crying. She remembered the last time she had been in that place. It was when Willem had given her the option of living in the palace or staying in her village. She remembered how Willem had sort of given her an ultimatum. But now she understood why, it had been unbearable the idea of being without her. She felt the same, but she hadn’t realized it yet.  
  
She loved him and he loved her back. Was the whole thing of being a prince too much? Was his title too heavy so their relationship wouldn’t support it? But what could she do? She felt their relationship was doomed.  
  
She looked at the stars as she was asking them for advice. Then she looked again at his parents’ graves. She saw the beautiful aurenaristies and then she remembered asking her mother about a similar situation. Her mother had told her the story about a man who loved a princess, but because the princess was supposed to marry a prince, the man had felt worthless and pretended to be a prince so he could conquer the princess.   
  
Outraged, little Liz had told her that he shouldn’t have deceived the princess. Her mother had giggled at her way of seeing things in black and white as part of her still young mind. Then she explained her that many people sometimes like to live in a fantasy or to pretend so they could taste a little bit of the happiness they desire. The man had loved the princess so much, he had risked to live a fantasy and to be for a few moments with her before returning back to his reality.   
  
The little girl had asked her mother why did he do that, and the mother had answered he did so he could at least have the memories of spending time with her, even though they didn’t ended up together. Of course, the story had had a happy ending and the princess had fallen in love with the man.  
  
The adult Liz now understood. Even though their relationship was destined to end up at some point when Willem will have to be forced to marry a noblewoman, she still could have the memories with him and no one could take those away from her. She was now resolved on her feelings.  
  
The sun was setting and just when darkness was falling, Liz heard some hooves sounds approaching. She hid Leon in the forest and gave him a few carrots and apples to keep him quiet. Then she heard some steps coming closer to the edge of the woods.  
  
“So this is the place, isn’t it?” said a man’s voice.  
“Apparently so,” answered a second man.  
“Well, I can’t believe that it’s been three towns already that are in this state of deterioration. No wonder why our captain fell into anarchy,” he said.  
“Many soldiers left the military after this. They were shocked to see how they had to burn certain places even when the people inside were still alive.”   
“Why did they do it?”  
“They were following orders. They were told it was to maintain ‘peace’. Of course, we know that’s a lie to keep their consciences in ‘peace’ rather than the community.”  
  
They stayed silent for a moment.  
  
“I bet the smell was terrible. They say it’s a horrible smell.”  
“It was. The worst part it was that this town was the last drop for many soldiers,”  
“Why?”   
“Because though some people had started to show the symptoms, there were still so many that could be saved. This town brought the worst in many people. Some soldiers tried to do whatever they wanted, no longer caring if they hurt or killed the people they had sworn to protect; others they just turned a blind eye to the first soldiers. Only a few remained loyal to the people and even fewer remained loyal to the crown.”  
  
They waited for another moment before speaking again.  
  
“That’s why we’re doing this,” declared the second man. “To remind us that we need to avenge those who could have been saved. Do you understand?”  
  
Liz took a peek to see the two men. One of them was Luca!  
  
“I know it already,” sighed the green-haired young man. “And to think the king or the princes could have avoided this…”  
“They dug their own graves.”  
“I understand now…”  
“Good.”   
  
Just before they left. Luca heard a rustle in the bushes. He turned to see if there was anybody but he couldn’t see anybody. Believing it had been the wind, he and his partner left the place. Liz was silently crying on the ground and Leon was nuzzling against her in a feeble attempt to comfort her.   
  
  
She returned to the palace, but rather than letting Willem know she had come back, she went straight to the library despite that it was late. She started to search through some of the shelves and halls in the library.  
  
“What a rare sight to see you in here so late,” commented Sigurd when he spotted her in one of his patrol routines.  
“I… I just needed to check on something.”  
“Is there anything I can help you with?”  
“Umm, as a matter of fact, I was wondering if there are official documents in the library.”  
“What kind of official documents were you looking for?”  
“Something that had to do with official orders?”  
“Well, it depends…”  
“On what?”  
“It depends if the matter concerned the Royal Family.”  
“You mean if they’re related?”  
“Sort of… Like the dead of the queen…”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Well, her death has been considered an official matter and, therefore, the documents concerning her are sealed.”  
“Didn’t she die of an illness?”  
“Dragonkins can’t get ill. She was poisoned. Due to the fact that the culprit was never caught, her death still remains an opened investigation but the documents that concern it are sealed.”  
“I see…”  
“Were you looking for that?”  
“Not really, I was thinking of something that happened a few years ago.”  
“What was it and when exactly did it happen?”  
“Umm, do you know there were some villages a little away from the capital, Solomon, Pendaron and Reitz. The villagers got a terrible plague.”  
“Uh… That kind of rings the bell…”  
“I heard the soldiers that were sent there were following orders to maintain ‘peace’”  
“Were you trying to check who were in charge?” trying to guess what she was looking for.  
“I heard the king himself wanted this ‘peace’ and he issued an order about it. Is it true?” She asked like he hadn’t asked anything.  
“I don’t know, but those documents are not sealed since the royal family didn’t get sick from the plague.”  
“Can I see them?”  
“Sure.”  
  
Sigurd took her to see the documents. He gave her a copy of the volume and he left her to study it. She reviewed page after page.  
  
The librarian returned to check on her, but to his surprise she was no longer where he had left her. Not only wasn’t she there, but she also had left the books sprawled all over the desk, something she never did.  
  


* * *

  
Willem returned to his room. He had been informed that she had returned a couple of hours ago, but she hadn’t gone to let him know of her return as he’d instructed her. He opened the room waiting to see her but she wasn’t there. He decided to go to her room instead. Just when he was turning around the corner where her room was, he bumped into Amelia.  
  
“Prince Willem!”  
“Amelia, where is Liz?”  
“She’s…”  
  
He then heard some cries coming from her room. He was going to enter, but Amelia stopped him.  
  
“Prince, wait, please!” she begged him.  
“Why? What happened?”  
“Prince, listen to me when I say that you shouldn’t go in there! Not right now, anyway!” she insisted.  
“If you think I’m going to leave her while she’s crying…!”   
“Prince!”  
  
He shoved her aside and entered her room. Liz was crying out loud. He hadn’t seen her like that since the first day they met when she cried while riding towards the castle.  
  
“Liz!” he exclaimed quite concerned and he got closer to her.  
“Get out!” she cried out when she heard his voice.  
  
At first he froze at her sudden shouting.   
  
“Liz…”  
“I told you to get out!” she yelled at him.   
  
She looked at him and Willem’s heart stopped. She was looking at him with the utmost loathing. The prince had only seen that look after she had discovered he was royalty.  
  
“Liz…? What…?”  
  
She got up from bed and pushed him towards the door. Due to the commotion, Willem didn’t put any resistance and before he knew it he was out in the hallway and she had locked herself in her room. Willem remained there in a shocked state.


	9. Chapter 9

Willem woke up the next day and went immediately to Liz’s room. He knocked on the door, but no one answered. He opened it a little, but he saw no one in there. He closed the door and started walking down the hallway when, again, he bumped into Amelia, who apparently had been running.  
  
“Amelia!”  
“Your Highness! I was going to fetch you!” she exclaimed. She was in a desperate state.  
“What is it?”  
“Liz’s gone!”  
“WHAT?!”  
  
He reentered her room and saw the bed tidied and then went to her wardrobe and opened it and saw it empty.  
  
“I went very early to her room to talk to her, but she was gone! I thought she had gone to your room to have breakfast, but then I noticed her wardrobe a little opened. When I went to shut it, I peeked inside it… and all her clothes were gone!”  
“But…”  
  
He didn’t say anything else. He left Amelia and went to the stables to check on her favourite horse. Leon was still there. She hadn’t taken him. That meant that she must had walked out of the palace. But still it wouldn’t be easy to find her among the many people that lived in the capital. Why? What happened? Her behavior had no sense to him.  
  
“Vain!”  
“Yes, My Prince?” asked stepping out behind a pillar.  
“Find her!” he ordered.  
“I cannot, Sire.”  
  
Willem walked towards and grabbed him by his clothes.  
  
“This is a command, not a request. Find her!”  
“My duty is to protect you, Sire.”  
“Either you find her or I’ll make your job even more difficult than it already is. I’ll make your life and your brother’s a living hell to the point where you’re going to be wishing to kill me instead of protecting me. Understood? Now find her!” he threatened with his teeth clenched in rage.  
  
Sighing, he gave a little bow and disappeared.  
  


* * *

  
Liz was sitting on a bench reading a book. One of the few books she had taken from her parents’ house before moving to the castle. She was planning to go back to her home, but she knew the prince would find her there easily, which made it quite difficult to return. So she came up with the idea of running away to some unfamiliar place. And she thought the train would cover her tracks. She would be wondering around the country, and maybe other kingdoms, until she felt it safe to return. Maybe when Willem got married with a noblewoman.  
  
Her heart was aching though. It was imploring to go back to Willem, but her brain didn’t agree. Her brain told her it wasn’t right for many reasons and the most important one was because of what she discovered the previous night.  
  
The train arrived at the station. She got on the train and started to look for a seat. She found a compartment and put her things in the seat next to hers. She didn’t want any company unless it was imposed on her. The whistle blew as the train prepared to leave the station. Again, her heart ached and she clutched it with tears in her eyes. She didn’t want to leave, but her mind was resolute. Any moment now, the train would begin to move and, somehow, Liz felt that once the train created a good distance between herself and Willem, her heartache would decrease.  
  
“Please,” she thought pleadingly. “Please, move. Please, leave soon.”  
  
The whistle signaling the last call to board blew and Liz’s wish came true. She put her forehead on the window and closed her eyes thanking that the train was departing.   
  
“There you are, little bunny,” said a voice that came from the door.  
  
She opened her eyes and turned her head. Vain was standing there.   
  
They gazed into each other eyes in a defiant way. Liz was willing to fight him if it was necessary. Slowly, the train gained speed. The pink-haired man sighed and closed the door behind him and went to sit down in front of her. But he merely sat down in silent. He didn’t speak or looked at her.  
  
“Did you come to get me?” she said after a few minutes.  
“Yes.”  
“Did the prince order it to you?”  
“Yes.”  
“What if I tell you I don’t want to go back?”  
“It doesn’t matter. You’ll still have to come with me.”  
  
Another silent fell between them.  
  
“Why did you leave?” asked Vain. “I thought you and the prince were getting along. It looked like you had gotten used to live in the palace too.”  
“I did,” she admitted.  
“Then… why?”  
“I come from Reitz, Vain.”  
  
He didn’t react.  
  
“Do you know where that place is?” she asked believing that maybe he didn’t know her village. After all it had been pretty small.  
“Yes,” he sighed.  
  
He closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them.  
  
“So let me guess, you discovered the history of what happened.”  
“You knew?”  
“I kind of know pretty much of what happens in Prince Willem’s life.”  
“I see…”  
“I guess these are news to you, but the princes don’t have an easy life,” he said looking out the window.  
  
The landscaping was beautiful, but Liz only looked at Vain.  
  
“It’s true they don’t get to worry about what they’re going to eat like some people in the country,” he continued, “but they have to make other decisions. Difficult ones, even heart-breaking ones. But it’s not my place to give you explanations and you won’t listen to me, anyway. You’ve got to talk to the prince.”  
“I can’t go back, Vain. Please, don’t make me.”  
“You’ve got to go back. Talk to him. If after talking to him, you still want to leave the palace, then we will give you all the necessary things you might need for a long journey.”  
  
She pondered on this. She wanted to come back, to be with the prince. But he was her enemy now. She was already feeling guilty for loving him. However, she knew that even though she resisted, Vain would have to follow the orders and she would be powerless against him. She imagined that maybe it was best to return willingly. She nodded to let Vain know that she consented to return.  
  
They got off the train at the next station and Vain let the staff know who he was and that he needed to go back. It was arranged that a carriage with a coachman took them back to the capital city.  
  
When they arrived at the castle, Vain led her immediately to the prince’s chambers. At the door he knocked and let the prince know he had accomplished his mission. Then he started to walk out before the prince answered to the door.  
  
“Wait! Aren’t you coming in?”  
“I’ve never entered the prince’s chambers. Only the maids are allowed to enter on certain schedules. The prince is the only one allowed to enter; no one else. His family can enter, but in emergencies or with his permission.”  
“But he told me when he was younger many servants entered constantly.”  
“There have been only a few occasions when this rule is bent or broken, but I can count them with the fingers of one hand.”  
  
He turned a corner and left Liz wondering about these occasions.  
  
Before she could think hardly on them, the door opened.  
  
“Liz!”  
  
Willem embraced her tightly.  
  
“You’re fine!” he said separating a little and examining her.  
  
She pushed him away and then she walked to the little living room he had at the entrance of his chambers. She didn’t sit down, she just remained there like a statue.   
  
“What is it?” he walked slowly toward her. “What happened? Why did you leave the palace?”  
“Did you know where I come from, Sire?” she asked coldly.  
  
Willem was taken aback. It didn’t make any sense. Liz had already warmed up to him and she no longer called him ‘Sire’. Not since had she decided to live in the palace on her free will.  
  
“What is this? Why are you suddenly being so cold towards me and calling me ‘Sire’? I thought we were past that,” he said grabbing her hands and trying to caress her arm.  
  
She slipped through his fingers and she backed a few steps to keep her distance from him. This made his heart ache. What Willem didn’t know is that her heart was feeling the same, but she needed to keep her head straight and Willem’s touch didn’t help.  
  
“I asked you if you knew where I come from, ‘Sire’? ”  
  
This really made no sense to him, but it was clear she was trying to keep her mind focused, so he gazed her directly into her eyes with a puzzled look.  
  
“You lived in that burnt town near the spring, didn’t you?”  
“Do you know its name?”  
“No.”  
  
In his effort to make her to like him, he had completely forgotten to investigate her past, concentrating more in her present.  
  
“I come from Reitz,” she announced, “and if that name doesn’t ring the bell to you, then I have no reason to talk to you anymore.”  
  
He had frozen. His heart had stopped and his eyes widened at the name. He was shaking now that truth was sinking in.  
  
“Liz…” he barely breathed. “How…?”  
“I just found out and confirmed it later,” she answered to his unasked question.  
  
He sat down on the sofa near the window and grabbed his head. His fingers entangled with his hair.   
  
“Tell me you didn’t do it,” she pleaded, her voice shaking in an attempt to keep her tears at bay. “Look me in the eyes and tell me that what I read, what I saw, what I lived… that you had nothing to do with it.”  
  
She was repressing her tears and holding her breath. Willem wanted to give her the answer she wanted to hear. He wanted to lie to her, but there was no point. He couldn’t deny his involvement in the matter.   
  
“I did it…” he finally murmured barely in a whisper.  
  
His words were like a dagger into her heart. She started to cry again. This time, Willem made no attempt to hold her and comfort her.  
  
“I don’t want to see you ever again!” she cried out before leaving the room.  
  
Willem remained there with his head between his hands and crying for the pain he had caused to the woman he loved.   
  


* * *

  
She was running down the halls not caring for the people seeing her crying when she suddenly bumped into Felix.  
  
“Liz!” he exclaimed.  
  
Then he noticed her crying her eyes out.   
  
“What’s the matter?” he asked terrified at seeing her in that state. “Did Willem do something to you?”  
“No… Yes… I just…” she hid her face with her hands and she sobbed harder.  
“Come, let’s get out of here,” Felix suggested kindly. “I think you could need some fresh air.”  
  
He put his hands on her back and gently led her to one of the gardens.  
  
There, she cried and all he did was to rube her back in circles in a soothing way and small effort to calm her down.  
  
After an hour, she looked at him and he smiled kindly to her. Then, to his shock, she got up and looked at him with something close to hatred. Her eyes and nose were red and swollen, but her gaze was unmistakable.   
  
“Liz?”  
“I’m sorry, Felix, I appreciate you for trying to comfort me, but I can’t be with you or any member of your family… I can’t be here anymore,” she said trying to walk away from him.  
“Wait!” he got up and grabbed her arm.  
“Let me go!”  
“Tell what happened, please,” he begged.  
  
Liz saw his supplicant eyes. She sat down on the bench again and then she told him everything. Felix listened to her silently. When she finished, he gave a deep sigh. He had known about what had happened to those villages, since he was the one who told Sigurd where to put the documents. He bit his lip and then sighed again.  
  
“You’ve got nothing to say…” she said with her arms crossed.  
“I do, but I’m afraid that you won’t listen to me.”  
  
She closed her eyes and inhaled profoundly and then exhaled slowly. She did this for a few more times, before she answered.  
  
“I’ll listen.”  
  
Felix started to explain to her what happened. The royal family had been informed that a town had been infected with a plague but, at the beginning it was just a small district of the town, then half town and rapidly the whole village had been infected. They tried to contain it, but it had been too late. Apparently, many people had fled and went to other different towns. Reitz had been one of them.  
  
That day, a royal order was issued: to get rid of all towns in order to eradicate the plague before it arrived to the city and the millions of people living in it got contaminated, including the Royal Family. It was Willem’s official first day of work as the heir prince; therefore, his signature was necessary to be in the document. However, he had refused at first. He refused to sign the document, until his father and uncle had made him sign it.  
  
“He didn’t want to,” Felix said to Liz. “He had nightmares for the next couple of weeks imagining the suffering of the people.”  
  
Felix explained to her that though it wasn’t the best choice, it looked there was no other.  
  
“I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am for your loss,” he said to her with a sorrowful look. “But, sometimes, we must do things we don’t like for a greater good.”  
“To protect yourselves,” she said accusingly.  
“To protect everyone,” he corrected.   
  
She hid her face behind his hands.  
  
“Why me? Why did I survive that stupid plague?” she asked more to herself than to Felix.  
“You must have been immune to it, but that doesn’t mean everyone will be immune too,” he calmly explained. “Trust me when I say this,” with the back of his finger he wiped a tear and caressed her cheek, “If we had known other way to eradicate the plague, we would have done it. The first thing we try is to avoid more casualties in these situations.”  
  
She shook her head and sighed. What Felix said made sense. And Willem didn’t even try to excuse himself. He had taken the blame instead. Liz felt bad for him.   
  
“I understand now,” she finally said.  
“Good.”  
  
He smiled at her and she smiled back. Then he leaned on her and he kissed her. It was a sweet kiss, yet it held a passion in it. He cupped her face in his hands and made the kiss deeper. Then she suddenly broke the kiss.  
  
“Wait, Felix,” she pleaded.  
“I’m sorry,” he said. His voice came out as a hoarse. “I just can’t help it. I like you too much.”  
“I…”  
“Sshhh…” he put a finger on her lips, “Hush now. I don’t want to hear it. I’m not ready for any kind of response.”  
  
He grabbed her by the arms and put his head on one of her shoulders. She gulped at the sweet gesture.  
  
“I think I know your answer, but I had to tell you. I had to get it out of my system.”  
“Felix…”  
“I love my brother, I love him very much. Yet, I can’t help thinking that if he weren’t in the picture, we could…”   
  
He didn’t finish. He gazed at her and just smiled at her. Touched by his gentle attitude, chivalry and love for his brother, Liz smiled back.   
  
Suddenly her smile vanished and her eyes widened at the sight of something behind Felix’s back.  
  
“Felix, watch out!”  
  
Felix only felt her pushing him and the next thing he felt was that he was hitting his body and head really hard against the ground. He opened his eyes when he felt something dripping over his face. It was blood. Liz was on top of him in a protective embrace position. It was her blood dripping on him. A lot of blood.   
  
Felix looked better and he could distinguish the end of an arrow sticking out of her shoulder. She had jumped in front of him and intercepted it instead.  
  
“A-Are you… all right?” she panted.  
“W-What…?” he stuttered.  
“Liz!”   
  
She looked up to see who had called her and saw Captain Vincent running towards them. When she saw him, she felt such a relief that she collapsed on top of Felix.  
  
“Liz? Liz?!” screamed Felix shaking her.  
“Your Highness, don’t move!” ordered Vincent.  
  
The captain of the guard kneeled before him while other soldiers passed them and headed for the trees and bushes.  
  
“Find the culprits! I don’t want them to escape!” ordered the prince.  
  
The soldiers guards disappeared, led by Lieutenant Qing. Another man kneeled before Liz and prince Felix. His name was Aaron, Felix’s shadow.  
  
“Your Highness, don’t move,” repeated Aaron.  
“Don’t touch her, Aaron,” ordered Vincent.   
  
With extreme care, Vincent snapped the arrow and, even more carefully, he lifted Liz and he ran with her in his arms.  
  
“Liz!” Felix yelled seeing the captain leaving with her.  
“Your Higness, please, stay still!” Aaron ordered, “I need to check your wounds.”  
“This isn’t my blood!” Felix said indignantly. “It’s hers!”  
“Your Highness…”  
  
It was the first time Aaron saw Felix looking so rattled. The calm and composed prince had gone. He was shaking and he was scared, but Aaron had the feeling that it wasn’t so shaken up for the threat to his life.  
  
“Sire, let’s go back to your chambers. It’s dangerous that you’re here,” he said.  
“I need to see her!” he said starting to walk towards where Vincent had disappeared.  
  
Aaron stopped and turning him around, he shook him.  
  
“This is important!” he yelled at him. “You’ve got to go back! An attack occurred and you were a target! Your safety is a priority!”  
  
Thankfully, Felix wasn’t that muscular or physically strong. So Aaron lifted him over his shoulder despite the prince’s protest and threats to fire him.  
  


* * *

  
Word of the attack and that Liz got injured when she defended the youngest prince was heard around the entire castle. Willem bellowed and cursed the gods when he heard it and tried to go immediately to her side, but the guards didn’t allow him. At Vain’s report, Prime Minister had declared a lockdown.  
  
Willem had practically gotten mad and it took half an army to restrain him. Finally, one of the soldiers had come around and given him an anesthesia shot. Something they kept to subdue any man who, in practice, would injure himself badly.  
  
The heir prince had woken up with a terrible headache and, not long after that, he had to endure one of his uncle’s scoldings.  
  
Three days passed and there had been no news on Liz’s condition. Though the culprits had been found and caught, Conrad hadn’t lifted the lockdown. Willem begged him day and night to let him leave the castle that had become a fortress, but he refused.  
  
“We have a medical wing, Uncle!” he exclaimed after trying to reason with the Prime Minsiter. “I wouldn’t be asking this if she had been taken there,” he declared.   
“And I told you that Captain Vincent made the right choice.”   
  
He had repeated it to his nephew for the hundredth time. He took two fingers to his temple and started massaging it. Willem was so stubborn!  
  
“I already told you that General Smith had informed that the medical wing consisted only in people who only know how to treat injuries that are common during the soldier’s combat and weapon practices. Captain Vincent, due to his military background and field expertise, he deduced the arrow that Liz received to save your brother’s life was poisoned, so he took her to the closest clinic outside the palace’s grounds.”  
“Then let me see her! The clinic must be very near,” he implored.  
“I already told you I cannot,” he said rolling his eyes. “Willem, your brother may have been the target this time, but you can’t assume that you’re not in the list as well. After all, _you are_ the heir prince.”  
“But you’ve already caught the culprits.”  
“Yes. I have… That, however, doesn’t mean you are still safe.”  
“But…”  
“Enough!” he shouted slamming his palm on his desk. “I won’t repeat myself again, Willem! We’ve already discussed this and my decision shan’t change!”  
  
Before his nephew could reply, there was a knock on the door.  
  
“Enter.”  
  
His second nephew entered. Conrad sighed.  
  
“Lacan, I told you…”  
“I’ve heard you, Uncle,” Lacan said rising his palm to silence him. “Your screams along with Willem’s can be heard in all the castle.”  
  
Great. Just what the Prime Minister wanted: the whole palace hearing him arguing with his nephew. He sighed in exasperation.  
  
“However, I too agree with Willem. If you’ve caught the culprits…”  
  
The Prime Minister let out an audible grunt. He had to tell his nephews.  
  
“I have caught the responsible group behind Felix’s attack. However, our intelligence has confirmed that this was an inside complot.”   
“What? What do you mean?”  
“Someone gave the group information of the soldier’s watch and maps of the palace. An information that only palace’s members could’ve had access to it. Besides, General Smith and I have our doubts on Felix’s attack.”  
“What doubts?”  
“Well…” he said with his Prime Minister matter-of-fact voice, “To tell you the truth, Felix is just the third in line to the throne. General Smith has mentioned that if they were attacking the blood line, Willem should have suffered the first attack, not Felix. You see where I’m going?”  
“This might not have been an attempted coup,” Willem answered.  
“Exactly, but we still can’t rule it out. Therefore, I need you to cooperate and stay put whilst we resolve this. You could also help me with your little brother. I fear he has been traumatized by this event.”  
“Whatever,” Willem replied coldly.  
“Willem!” reprimanded Conrad.  
“I’m sorry, Uncle, it’s just…”  
  
Willem couldn’t finish. He loved his little brother, but he also loved Liz, and the fact that she had put her life in danger to save him, made him feel angry at him. Also, the green monster was constantly whispering in his ear the question Felix had refused to answer: Why the hell were the two together?  
  
“I don’t know exactly why you’re acting like this towards your brother, Willem,” his uncle said, “but I can guess it and, if it is what I think, then I can assure you that Liz wouldn’t be happy about your behavior if she knew you’re giving him the cold shoulder…”  
  
This made Willem wake up. His uncle was right. Liz had risked her life for Felix, to see him safe. She would be disappointed in Willem if she knew that her effort and the love for his brother were diminished by his petty motives.  
  
“I’m sorry,” said Willem with regret in his voice.  
“It’s not me who you should apologize,” his uncle reminded him.  
“Come on, Willem,” Lacan said putting his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Let’s have dinner in Felix’s room.”  
  
The Prime Minister allowed Lacan to take Willem away. Then, he decided to do the only thing he came up to ease his nephews and give them mind peace.


	10. Chapter 10

The captain arrived late in the night. He had brought Liz back at the palace after receiving a personal letter from the Prime Minister himself, asking if Liz was out of danger, to bring her back into the palace.  
  
“Liz we’ve arrived,” Vincent whispered.  
  
The girl barely opened her eyes to confirm what the red-haired man announced. Then she leaned on his chest with a smile on her face and she fell asleep again. The captain smiled at her tenderness. Some soldiers helped both of them to get out of the carriage.  
  
Vincent personally went to take her back to her room. He would’ve wanted to stay by her side a little longer, but he knew that his duties required presenting a report before the General and Prime Minister. So he left her with Amelia watching over her.  
  
It didn’t even pass five minutes and Prince Willem was already in her room ordering Amelia to get out. The girl left the room quite frightened by Willem’s angry voice.  
  
“Liz!” he exclaimed running to her side.  
  
His voice had an effect on her. She opened her eyes and, when she saw his face showing he had been mortified with her absence, she smiled. She wanted to smile for him, hoping that smile would calm him down.  
  
It did not.  
  
She wanted to say something but she was still weak.  
  
“You can’t talk?” he asked her quite concerned.  
  
She sighed as a response. He gently caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers.  
  
“Please, rest. You’re safe now,” he said.  
  
She smiled again and then she dozed off.  
  
  
Next morning, Liz opened her eyes feeling a little better than the night before. Could it be because she was back in her room? Somehow she felt it had nothing and yet everything to do with the place. She suddenly felt something on the back of her hand. She saw Willem sleeping over the edge of her bed and he was grabbing her hand in a tight grasp, the way a drowning man would be holding on to a floating log.  
  
Her heart ached at this sight and with a little effort on her part, with her other hand, she caressed Willem’s hair. The prince woke up at her touch. She was smiling at him again. He decided to remain with her until she was recovered. The only moments when she had “some privacy” was when Amelia came over to bathe her.  
  
One day, a couple of weeks after she returned to the palace, Willem, against his will, had to leave her side to have a gathering with his family. After the meeting, he returned to his room to change his clothing, but he found himself a surprise. A great surprise.  
  
Liz was leaning against the railing of his balcony staring down at the city. Her dress was very revealing, but considering how hot the weather had been, he couldn’t blame her. More than anything, he was so happy to see her standing that he ran towards her and embraced her from behind.  
  
“You scared me!” she complained a little amused, but she didn’t push him away.  
  
On the contrary, she placed her hands on his arms and allowed him to sniff her hair.  
  
“Willem…?” she asked gently.  
  
He didn’t answer. He spun her around and he kissed her passionately. He really was making sure that his eyes didn’t play him a bad joke. He had tried to smell her, to feel her, and now he was savoring her.  
  
What really became the epitome of Willem’s happiness was that Liz responded to the kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and she opened her mouth so he would deepen the kiss. Not breaking the kiss yet, he lifted her in his arms and took her to the bed, where he gently laid her down and he put himself on top of her.  
  
When he finally broke the kiss, he looked at her with incredulity. He just couldn’t believe one of his most wanted dreams was coming true.  
  
“Liz…” he gasped.  
  
Tears were leaking from his eyes.  
  
“Yes, it’s me,” she said putting a hand on his cheek.  
“I-I’m… I’m so happy,” he finally said.  
  
He hugged her and put his forehead on her shoulder.  
  
“Willem…”  
  
She only embraced him. She felt overwhelmed at his relief to see her recovered.  
  
“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you,” he said trembling and sobbing.  
“You don’t have to apologize. It wasn’t your fault,” she commented gently kissing his cheek.  
  
He was feeling heavy, but she didn’t care. He started to stroke his back in a soothing pace to calm him down.  
  
“I’m all right, Willem. I’m fine,” she said constantly to his pointy ear.  
  
Her words finally hit him and he separated his body a little from hers in order to see her face. Seeing doubt in his eyes, Liz leaned up and she gave him another passionate kiss, which he was glad to respond.  
  
They both gasped for breath after they broke the kiss, Willem looked at her with lustful desire in his eyes, asking something he didn’t know he was asking until he saw Liz nodding.  
  
“Are you sure?” he asked out loud. He wanted to make sure she really wanted it too.  
  
To answer his question Liz smiled and started kissing his neck.  
  
“Mmm…” Willem exclaimed, feeling his soul soaring.  
  
He could feel his entire body shaking of excitement. His member getting hard just for her soft pecks on his neck and jaw. He then took her by the wrists and pinned her to the bed. He started to kiss her neck and then he trailed a path of kisses down to her chest. He kissed the part between her breasts. Liz moaned and he smiled knowing that this was causing her some pleasure. He let go off her hands but she didn’t move them from their spot. She was willing to let Willem do whatever he wanted, suspecting he was going to make her enjoy her first time.  
  
Willem took her hands and pulled her so they both got up of the bed. He started to untie the laces of the front part of her dress and, ever so gently, he caressed her shoulders and made the sleeves to roll down and the dress, losing its support, fell down to the floor. She remained in her underwear. She blushed at this and tried to cover herself with her hands, but Willem again grabbed her wrists to stop her and pressed his body against hers.  
  
“Don’t, please,” he whispered in a hoarse leaning his forehead on hers. “Let me look at you,” he said kissing the nape of her neck.  
“But it’s embarrassing,” she replied between gasps.  
“Why? You’re beautiful.”  
  
He again kissed her between her breasts and then he trailed down kisses down her abdomen. He kneeled and put his fingers in at the sides of her underwear and tugged them down. Just like her dress, they fell down on the floor. He gasped at the sight of her. To him, she looked like one of those garden statues representing the goddess bodies as the ultimate female beauty. In his eyes, the goddess of old times would have been jealous of Liz’s beauty.  
  
His hands caressed the sides of Liz’s legs, and trailed up her hips, her waist, her breasts and her shoulders. His kisses parallel to his caresses. Liz panted at his tenderness and entwined her hands in his hair and softly caressed his horns and his long, black hair. One he stood up completely, he kissed her again. She put her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his. He leaned over her and, carefully, he laid her down again on the bed.  
  
He kissed her cheek, neck and the he kissed one of her nipples. A shiver ran down her spine and she moaned at this.  
  
“Willem!” was all she could say before he started to suck her breast and started to run his tongue against her nipple. “Ah!” she exclaimed when he nibbled it and then sucked it again.  
  
She could feel his left hand massaging her left breast whilst his right hand caressed her abdomen and went down. She could feel his hand in her private area and starting to caress and play with her clit. She was about to gasp when Willem stopped licking her breast and pressed his lips against hers. The kiss was passionate as always, but she was aware of the new ministrations she was receiving down there.  
  
She ran her hands at the back of his head and traced her fingers in his hair and when Willem thrust a finger against her entrance, she grabbed his hair and buried her fingernails in his skull. Willem found this stimulating, since it made him know that he aroused her. He rounded with his left arm her neck and shoulder and pressed her body against his, whilst he widened her entrance by adding another finger and starting to apply a rhythm in and out of her. Her moans and gasps barely audible and captured in Willem’s mouth.  
  
Liz jerked her head back and gave a last cry when she felt reaching climax. Willem’s fingers stopped and when he pulled them out, they’d got a sticky web with Liz’s fluids. She would have collapsed if Willem hadn’t been holding her so tightly. He started to lick his fingers.  
  
“You taste delicious.”  
“Please, don’t,” she pleaded grabbing his wrist to stop him.  
“But it’s true,” he said still licking them. She was way too weak to really stop him. “I want more.”  
“Willem, wait…” she said letting his wrist go and putting her hand on his cheek instead “I…”  
  
He looked at her with desire, but he also could read her face. She was afraid. After all, this was her first time.  
  
“I understand,” he said kissing her forehead and savoring her sweat and then kissed her again. His hand resting on her cheek. His body pressing against hers. When their lips parted, she gulped at his beautiful face. Once more, she nodded at Willem’s unasked question. He smiled and got up of bed to remove his entire attire.  
  
Once he removed every piece of his clothing, he crawled back into bed. He spread Liz’s legs and put his mouth near her entrance. He started licking his clit. It felt so good that Liz’s back arched and clutched the sheets when she felt Willem kissing and licking her. When he felt she was wet enough, he put himself between her legs and directed his erected member to her entrance.  
  
“Are you sure?” he asked her because he needed to hear her answer.  
“Yes,” she replied nodding her head.  
  
Slowly, he penetrated her. The tightness around his member felt so good, but when she gave a cry at the feeling of her entrance being stretched, Willem got scared. His member was thicker than his fingers and way longer. A couple of tears left her eyes at the pain she was feeling. He was feeling guilty that he was causing her such pain.  
  
“I’m sorry,” he said stopping his thrusting, “should we stop?”  
“No, it’s okay, I think it’s normal,” she gasped.  
“Are you sure?”  
“Yes, please continue.”  
  
He did as she said and when he hit the wall he stopped again.  
  
“This will hurt a lot, but bear with it. I promise you, it will only be this time.”  
  
She nodded again and wrapped her arms around his neck and waited. He slowly started to thrust his penis against her maidenhead and when it broke, Liz let out a cry and her fingernails buried in his skin. This made Willem realize that the pain she had felt was excruciating. Once more, he stopped and he allowed her to get used to the sensation. It took a few minutes, in which Willem realized that his body was feeling warmer at the contact with her.  
  
Liz panted until she started to feel more comfortable.  
  
“Willem?”  
“Yes?” he asked in a hoarse.  
“Can we move now?”  
  
At her request, he began a slow pace in and out of her. Liz moaned every time she felt his member hit her womb. After a whilst, the rhythm soon started to go faster and faster. His hips hitting against her made a thumping sound and Liz was sure that she would never get tired of it.  
  
“Liz!” he grunted.  
“Willem!” she panted.  
  
The rhythm started to get even wilder. He managed to get the rest of his body closer to her so he could feel the warmth emanating from her body, which made his cold one to go further, eager to make her even hotter than she already was. She put his arms around his shoulders feeling she was about to explode.  
  
Then just as they both reached climax, they screamed at each other “I love you!” and Willem practically collapsed of satisfaction on her. She felt his cum filling her insides.  
  
They stayed like that for a few minutes, embracing each other, until Willem decided to remove his now limping member from her, feeling part of his fluids remaining inside and some of it leaking out of her, one of those fluids was a trail of her blood as a sign of her lost virginity.  
  
“Liz?”  
  
Before he could ask her anything else, she kissed him with the same passion he had kissed her before. Willem wrapped his arms around her body and deepened the kiss. When he unwillingly pulled back to look at her, he saw her smiling.  
  
“Are you all right?”  
“Yes,” she replied snuggling against him.  
  
He gulped. He was aware that he was about to bring chaos into that wonderful moment they were sharing, yet he needed to clear something with her.  
  
“Liz, I want to talk to you about something.”  
“What is it?” she asked nuzzling her nose against his chest, which made things harder for him.  
“Your hometown…”  
“I know.”  
  
She kissed his hairless, well-shaped manly chest.  
  
“Felix explained it to me. I know it wasn’t your intention.”  
“Can you forgive me?”  
  
She let out a heavy sigh. Then she smiled at him.  
  
“I’ll forgive you…” she said.  
  
He was so overjoyed that he leaned again to kiss her, but she put a finger on his mouth to stop him.  
  
“But you’ll have to compensate it to me every night from now on,” she said teasingly and she gently flicked his nose with her finger.  
“I think I can bear with that sort of punishment,” he said and kissed her again.  
  
Willem had the feeling that his happiness with her was no longer an impossible or a faraway dream. Having her in his arms proved it. He was willing to work his way to her heart until she felt the same he did: that his world made no sense without her in the world. Feeling this, he watched her to sleep thinking that maybe next morning they could take some aruenaristies to their parent’s graves to ask for their blessing over their relationship. He kissed her temple and cuddled against her whispering faintly in her ear:  
  
“I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is sortf of the end of the story, although I'm currently working in a possible sequel, though much of it will depend on how well-reviewed is this work. Hope you have liked it, and I'm sorry it took some time to get to this last chapter.


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